[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2840 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2840

  To establish a liaison with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 
    United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to expedite 
naturalization applications filed by members of the Armed Forces and to 
         establish a deadline for processing such applications.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 10, 2008

Mr. Schumer (for himself and Mr. Hagel) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish a liaison with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 
    United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to expedite 
naturalization applications filed by members of the Armed Forces and to 
         establish a deadline for processing such applications.

    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 ``Military Personnel Citizenship 
Processing Act''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE FBI LIAISON.

    (a) Establishment.--Section 451 of the Homeland Security Act of 
2002 (6 U.S.C. 271) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``the Bureau of'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``United States''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Office of the FBI Liaison.--
            ``(1) In general.--There shall be an Office of the FBI 
        Liaison in United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
            ``(2) Functions.--The Office of the FBI Liaison shall 
        monitor the progress of the functions of the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation in the naturalization process to assist in the 
        expeditious completion of all such functions pertaining to 
        naturalization applications filed by current or former members 
        of the Armed Forces under section 328 or 329 of the Immigration 
        and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 and 1440).
            ``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to 
        carry out this subsection.''.
    (b) Rulemaking.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the 
Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall 
promulgate rules to carry out the amendment made by subsection (a)(2).

SEC. 3. DEADLINE FOR PROCESSING AND ADJUDICATING NATURALIZATION 
              APPLICATIONS FILED BY MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

    (a) In General.--Section 328 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1439) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Not later than 6 months after receiving each application 
filed under subsection (a) or section 329(a), United States Citizenship 
and Immigration Services shall--
            ``(1) process and adjudicate the application; or
            ``(2) provide the applicant with--
                    ``(A) an explanation for its inability to meet the 
                processing and adjudication deadline under this 
                subsection; and
                    ``(B) an estimate of the date by which the 
                application will be processed and adjudicated.
    ``(h) The Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration 
Services shall notify the Attorney General of every application filed 
under subsection (a) or section 329(a) that is not processed and 
adjudicated within 1 year after it was filed.''.
    (b) GAO Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report to 
Congress that contains the results of a study regarding the average 
length of time taken by United States Citizenship and Immigration 
Services to process and adjudicate applications for naturalization 
filed by members of the Armed Services.
    (c) Annual Report.--The Director of United States Citizenship and 
Immigration Services shall annually submit a report to Congress that 
sets forth, for each year, the average time between the date on which 
an application is filed under section 328(a) or section 329(a) and the 
date on which the application is adjudicated.

SEC. 4. SUNSET PROVISION.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act are repealed on the 
date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>