[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3828 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3828

 To reduce the backlog in processing requests made by U.S. Citizenship 
  and Immigration Services to the National Name Check Program of the 
                    Federal Bureau of Investigation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 15, 2007

Ms. Clarke (for herself, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Towns, Mr. Honda, Mr. Pastor, 
 Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Stark, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Shays, Mrs. 
  Myrick, Mr. Perlmutter, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, and Ms. Norton) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reduce the backlog in processing requests made by U.S. Citizenship 
  and Immigration Services to the National Name Check Program of the 
                    Federal Bureau of Investigation.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Citizenship and Immigration Backlog 
Reduction Act''.

SEC. 2. BACKLOG REDUCTION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General and the Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall jointly provide to the Committees on the 
Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Appropriations of the House of 
Representatives, and the Committees on the Judiciary, Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs, and Appropriations of the Senate, a plan for 
ensuring that, within 18 months of the date of enactment of this Act, 
the National Name Check Program, administered by the Records Management 
Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), will no longer 
have any requested name checks from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Service (USCIS) in backlog status.
    (b) Elements of Plan.--The plan shall include the following 
elements:
            (1) Necessary improvements to computer systems so that all 
        records may be transmitted, maintained, and checked 
        electronically, and whether it is possible to centralize this 
        information in a single searchable database.
            (2) How the FBI will improve communications with USCIS to 
        ensure the maximum efficiency in processing name check requests 
        from that agency.
            (3) Security upgrades in transferring information between 
        the FBI and USCIS to ensure the privacy of any individual 
        receiving a name check.
            (4) Long-term fixes that will prevent any future backlog, 
        including a risk management analysis of changes that can be 
        made to streamline the process and policies for obtaining FBI 
        name checks in connection with applications and petitions for 
        immigration benefits.
            (5) An estimate of the funding required to complete the 
        operation by the required date along with an estimate of any 
        possible fee increases.
            (6) A study regarding the best practices in assessing the 
        level of risk presented by applicants. The study will determine 
        whether the current risk assessment process should be modified.
            (7) A report of the number of applications and petitions 
        that remain pending at USCIS more than 6 months after the name 
        check results have been returned from the FBI to USCIS.
    (c) Effect of Backlog On and After 18 Months of the Date of 
Enactment of This Act.--Beginning 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the National Name Check Program is not 
authorized to have any file in backlog status. After that date, any 
name check request from USCIS held in the possession of the National 
Name Check Program for longer than 6 months--
            (1) will be referred to the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
        who shall adjudicate interim benefits in connection with the 
        application with which the FBI name check was requested, unless 
        the Secretary certifies there is reasonable cause to suspect 
        that the applicant poses a threat to national security, 
        otherwise poses a threat to the United States, or has broken 
        United States immigration law; and
            (2) the name check fee shall be fully refunded.
    (d) Backlog.--For purposes of this section, the term ``backlog'' 
means, with respect to a file sent to the National Name Check Program 
from USCIS, that the file has been pending under the jurisdiction of 
the Justice Department for longer than 6 months.
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