[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2494 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2494
To authorize and direct the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of
Social Security to continue to work with the governments of the states
of the former Soviet Union to encourage such states to adopt policies
that would allow receipt of pensions for individuals who worked in any
such state and earned a pension and currently reside in the United
States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 11, 2011
Mr. Nadler introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize and direct the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of
Social Security to continue to work with the governments of the states
of the former Soviet Union to encourage such states to adopt policies
that would allow receipt of pensions for individuals who worked in any
such state and earned a pension and currently reside in the United
States, and for other purposes.
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 ``Former Soviet Union State Pension
Fairness Act of 2011''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the 2009 American Community Survey, over
1.1 million immigrants from the fifteen states of the former
Soviet Union currently live in the United States.
(2) Many such immigrants worked for decades for state-run
industries in their countries of origin.
(3) As a result of such years of hard work, such immigrants
earned government pensions in their countries of origin.
(4) According to the 2009 American Community Survey, 37
percent of such immigrants are out of the labor force, 18
percent are aged 65 and over, and 17 percent live below the
poverty line.
(5) Many such immigrants are elderly, retired, and poor,
living on fixed incomes.
(6) Many such immigrants are Jews who fled due to religious
persecution.
(7) Many of such immigrants who are Jews were forced to
give up their citizenship before being allowed to leave their
country of origin.
(8) The United States has negotiated agreements with 24
countries, often called ``totalization agreements'', to
coordinate comprehensively public pension coverage and benefits
across countries.
(9) The 24 countries with which the United States has
totalization agreements are Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
(10) The United States does not pay Social Security
benefits to noncitizens residing outside the United States for
more than six consecutive months (``alien nonpayment
provision'') unless certain exceptions are met.
(11) One exception to the alien nonpayment provision, under
section 202(t) of the Social Security Act, is if the alien is a
citizen of a country that has a social insurance or pension
system which meets certain criteria, including having a system
under which benefits are paid to eligible United States
citizens who reside outside that country.
(12) The United States has arrangements with 71 countries
under section 202(t) of the Social Security Act, in which the
United States pays a foreign country's citizens who earned
Social Security while working in the United States but have
since moved abroad because that foreign country pays United
States citizens who earned pensions in that foreign country but
have since moved abroad.
(13) According to the Social Security Administration, these
71 countries are Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina,
Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Finland, France, Gabon, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Hungary,
Iceland, Jamaica, Jordan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico,
Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Nicaragua,
Norway, Palau, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, St.
Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia,
Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
The Netherlands, Trinidad-Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom,
Uruguay, and Venezuela.
(14) Not all persons from the states of the former Soviet
Union who now live in the United States are paid pensions that
they worked for and earned while working in such states.
(15) The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social
Security have worked with the governments of the states of the
former Soviet Union to encourage such states to adopt policies
that would allow receipt of pensions for all individuals who
worked in any such state and earned a pension and currently
reside in the United States.
(16) In June 2009, the House of Representatives by voice
vote adopted House Amendment 185 to H.R. 2410, the Foreign
Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011, which
stated it is the ``sense of Congress that the United States
should continue working with the states of the former Soviet
Union to come to an agreement whereby each state of the former
Soviet Union would pay the tens of thousands of beneficiaries
who have immigrated to the United States the pensions for which
they are eligible and entitled.''.
(17) In October 2009, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
ruled that its law barring pension payments to those who lived
in Ukraine or lived in countries with which Ukraine had a
pension treaty was unconstitutional.
(18) To allow Ukrainians in the United States to receive
the pensions they earned pursuant to the decision of the
Constitutional Court of Ukraine, its decision has to be
implemented through legislation.
SEC. 3. DIRECTION TO SECRETARY OF STATE AND COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL
SECURITY RELATING TO PENSION POLICIES OF STATES OF THE
FORMER SOVIET UNION.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of
Social Security are authorized and directed to continue to work with
the governments of the states of the former Soviet Union to encourage
such states to adopt policies that would allow receipt of pensions for
individuals who worked in any such state and earned a pension and
currently reside in the United States.
(b) Priority in U.S. Foreign Policy.--The Secretary of State is
authorized and directed to continue to make the adoption of policies
described in subsection (a) by the states of the former Soviet Union a
priority in the conduct of United States foreign policy with such
states.
SEC. 4. REPORT.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of
Social Security shall jointly submit to Congress a report on the
implementation of this Act for the preceding year. Such report shall
include a detailed description of the progress that has been made to
encourage the states of the former Soviet Union to adopt policies
described in section 3(a).
SEC. 5. STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ``states of the former Soviet Union'' means
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan.
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