[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 42 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 42

 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to preserve and protect 
Social Security benefits of American workers and to help ensure greater 
congressional oversight of the Social Security system by requiring that 
  both Houses of Congress approve a totalization agreement before the 
agreement, giving foreign workers Social Security benefits, can go into 
                                effect.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 6, 2009

 Mr. Ensign (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Bond, Mr. Burr, Mr. Vitter, 
  Mr. Enzi, and Mr. Isakson) introduced the following bill; which was 
          read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to preserve and protect 
Social Security benefits of American workers and to help ensure greater 
congressional oversight of the Social Security system by requiring that 
  both Houses of Congress approve a totalization agreement before the 
agreement, giving foreign workers Social Security benefits, can go into 
                                effect.

    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 ``Social Security Totalization 
Agreement Reform Act of 2009'' or the ``STAR Act''.

SEC. 2. TRANSMITTAL AND APPROVAL OF TOTALIZATION AGREEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 233(e) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 433(e)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(e)(1) Any agreement to establish a totalization arrangement 
which is entered into with another country under this section shall 
enter into force with respect to the United States if (and only if)--
            ``(A) the President, at least 90 calendar days before the 
        date on which the President enters into the agreement, notifies 
        each House of Congress of the President's intention to enter 
        into the agreement, and promptly thereafter publishes notice of 
        such intention in the Federal Register,
            ``(B) the President transmits the text of such agreement to 
        each House of Congress as provided in paragraph (2), and
            ``(C) an approval resolution regarding such agreement has 
        passed both Houses of Congress and has been enacted into law.
    ``(2)(A) Whenever an agreement referred to in paragraph (1) is 
entered into, the President shall transmit to each House of Congress a 
document setting forth the final legal text of such agreement and 
including a report by the President in support of such agreement. The 
President's report shall include the following:
            ``(i) An estimate by the Chief Actuary of the Social 
        Security Administration of the effect of the agreement, in the 
        short term and in the long term, on the receipts and 
        disbursements under the Social Security system established by 
        this title.
            ``(ii) A statement of any administrative action proposed to 
        implement the agreement and how such action will change or 
        affect existing law.
            ``(iii) A statement describing whether and how the 
        agreement changes provisions of an agreement previously 
        negotiated.
            ``(iv) A statement describing how and to what extent the 
        agreement makes progress in achieving the purposes, policies, 
        and objectives of this title.
            ``(v) An estimate by the Chief Actuary of the Social 
        Security Administration, working in consultation with the 
        Comptroller General of the United States, of the number of 
        individuals who may become eligible for any benefits under this 
        title or who may otherwise be affected by the agreement.
            ``(vi) An assessment of the integrity of the retirement 
        data and records (including birth, death, and marriage records) 
        of the other country that is the subject of the agreement.
            ``(vii) An assessment of the ability of such country to 
        track and monitor recipients of benefits under such agreement.
    ``(B) If any separate agreement or other understanding with another 
country (whether oral or in writing) relating to an agreement to 
establish a totalization arrangement under this section is not 
disclosed to Congress in the transmittal to Congress under this 
paragraph of the agreement to establish a totalization arrangement, 
then such separate agreement or understanding shall not be considered 
to be part of the agreement approved by Congress under this section and 
shall have no force and effect under United States law.
    ``(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term `approval 
resolution' means a joint resolution, the matter after the resolving 
clause of which is as follows: `That the proposed agreement entered 
into pursuant to section 233 of the Social Security Act between the 
United States and _______ establishing totalization arrangements 
between the Social Security system established by title II of such Act 
and the Social Security system of _______, transmitted to Congress by 
the President on ______, is hereby approved.', the first two blanks 
therein being filled with the name of the country with which the United 
States entered into the agreement, and the third blank therein being 
filled with the date of the transmittal of the agreement to Congress.
    ``(4) Whenever a document setting forth an agreement entered into 
under this section and the President's report in support of the 
agreement is transmitted to Congress pursuant to paragraph (2), copies 
of such document shall be delivered to both Houses of Congress on the 
same day and shall be delivered to the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives if the House is not in session and to the Secretary of 
the Senate if the Senate is not in session.
    ``(5) On the day on which a document setting forth the agreement is 
transmitted to the House of Representatives and the Senate pursuant to 
paragraph (1), an approval resolution with respect to such agreement 
shall be introduced (by request) in the House by the majority leader of 
the House, for himself or herself and the minority leader of the House, 
or by Members of the House designated by the majority leader and 
minority leader of the House; and shall be introduced (by request) in 
the Senate by the majority leader of the Senate, for himself or herself 
and the minority leader of the Senate, or by Members of the Senate 
designated by the majority leader and minority leader of the Senate. If 
either House is not in session on the day on which such an agreement is 
transmitted, the approval resolution with respect to such agreement 
shall be introduced in that House, as provided in the preceding 
sentence, on the first day thereafter on which that House is in 
session. The resolution introduced in the House of Representatives 
shall be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and the resolution 
introduced in the Senate shall be referred to the Committee on 
Finance.''.
    (b) Additional Reports and Evaluations.--Section 233 of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 433) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsections:
    ``(f) Biennial SSA Report on Impact of Totalization Agreements.--
            ``(1) Report.--For any totalization agreement transmitted 
        to Congress on or after January 1, 2009, the Commissioner of 
        Social Security shall submit a report to Congress and the 
        Comptroller General that--
                    ``(A) compares the estimates contained in the 
                report submitted to Congress under clauses (i) and (v) 
                of subsection (e)(2)(A) with respect to that agreement 
                with the actual number of individuals affected by the 
                agreement and the actual effect of the agreement on 
                Social Security system receipts and disbursements; and
                    ``(B) contains recommendations for adjusting the 
                methods used to make the estimates.
            ``(2) Dates for submission.--The report required under this 
        subsection shall be provided not later than 2 years after the 
        effective date of the totalization agreement that is the 
        subject of the report and biennially thereafter.
    ``(g) GAO Evaluation and Report.--
            ``(1) Evaluation of initial report on impact of 
        totalization agreements.--With respect to each initial report 
        regarding a totalization agreement submitted under subsection 
        (f), the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 
        an evaluation of the report that includes--
                    ``(A) an evaluation of the procedures used for 
                making the estimates required by subsection (e)(2)(A);
                    ``(B) an evaluation of the procedures used for 
                determining the actual number of individuals affected 
                by the agreement and the effects of the totalization 
                agreement on receipts and disbursements under the 
                Social Security system; and
                    ``(C) such recommendations as the Comptroller 
                General determines appropriate.
            ``(2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        submission of an initial report regarding a totalization 
        agreement under subsection (f), the Comptroller General shall 
        submit to Congress a report setting forth the results of the 
        evaluation conducted under paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Data collection.--The Commissioner of Social Security 
        shall collect and maintain the data necessary for the 
        Comptroller General of the United States to conduct the 
        evaluation required by paragraph (1).''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to agreements establishing totalization arrangements 
entered into under section 233 of the Social Security Act which are 
transmitted to Congress on or after January 1, 2009.
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