[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4282 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4282
To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that
the United States can comply fully with the obligations of the Hague
Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child
Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 28, 2012
Mr. Berg (for himself, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Davis of Kentucky, Mr. Lewis of
Georgia, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Price of Georgia, Mr. McDermott, Mr.
Crowley, Mr. Paulsen, Mrs. Black, Mr. Reed, and Mr. Rangel) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and
Means, and in addition to the Committees on the Budget and the
Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that
the United States can comply fully with the obligations of the Hague
Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child
Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, 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; REFERENCES.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``International
Child Support Recovery Improvement Act of 2012''.
(b) References.--Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
Act, wherever in this Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an
amendment to a section or other provision, the amendment shall be
considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Social
Security Act.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO ENSURE ACCESS TO CHILD SUPPORT SERVICES FOR
INTERNATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT CASES.
(a) Authority of the Secretary of HHS To Ensure Compliance With
Multilateral Child Support Conventions.--
(1) In general.--Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652) is amended--
(A) by redesignating the second subsection (l) (as
added by section 7306 of the Deficit Reduction Act of
2005) as subsection (m); and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(n) The Secretary shall use the authorities otherwise provided by
law to ensure the compliance of the United States with any multilateral
child support convention to which the United States is a party.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--Section 453(k)(3) (42 U.S.C.
653(k)(3)) is amended by striking ``452(l)'' and inserting
``452(m)''.
(b) Access to the Federal Parent Locator Service.--Section 453(c)
(42 U.S.C. 653(c)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (3);
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (4) and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) an entity designated as a Central Authority for child
support enforcement in a foreign reciprocating country or a
foreign treaty country for purposes specified in section
459A(c)(2).''.
(c) State Option To Require Individuals in Foreign Countries To
Apply Through Their Country's Appropriate Central Authority.--Section
454 (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (4)(A)(ii), by inserting before the
semicolon ``(except that, if the individual applying for the
services resides in a foreign reciprocating country or foreign
treaty country, the State may opt to require the individual to
request the services through the Central Authority for child
support enforcement in the foreign reciprocating country or the
foreign treaty country, and if the individual resides in a
foreign country that is not a foreign reciprocating country or
a foreign treaty country, a State may accept or reject the
application)''; and
(2) in paragraph (32)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, a foreign
treaty country,'' after ``a foreign reciprocating
country''; and
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or foreign
obligee'' and inserting ``, foreign treaty country, or
foreign individual''.
(d) Amendments to International Support Enforcement Provisions.--
Section 459A (42 U.S.C. 659a) is amended--
(1) by adding at the end the following:
``(e) References.--In this part:
``(1) Foreign reciprocating country.--The term `foreign
reciprocating country' means a foreign country (or political
subdivision thereof) with respect to which the Secretary has
made a declaration pursuant to subsection (a).
``(2) Foreign treaty country.--The term `foreign treaty
country' means a foreign country for which the 2007 Family
Maintenance Convention is in force.
``(3) 2007 family maintenance convention.--The term `2007
Family Maintenance Convention' means the Hague Convention of 23
November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support
and Other Forms of Family Maintenance.'';
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
striking ``foreign countries that are the subject of a
declaration under this section'' and inserting
``foreign reciprocating countries or foreign treaty
countries''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``and foreign
treaty countries'' after ``foreign reciprocating
countries''; and
(3) in subsection (d), by striking ``the subject of a
declaration pursuant to subsection (a)'' and inserting
``foreign reciprocating countries or foreign treaty
countries''.
(e) Collection of Past-Due Support From Federal Tax Refunds.--
Section 464(a)(2)(A) (42 U.S.C. 664(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking
``under section 454(4)(A)(ii)'' and inserting ``under paragraph
(4)(A)(ii) or (32) of section 454''.
(f) State Law Requirement Concerning the Uniform Interstate Family
Support Act (UIFSA).--
(1) In general.--Section 466(f) (42 U.S.C. 666(f)) is
amended--
(A) by striking ``on and after January 1, 1998,'';
(B) by striking ``and as in effect on August 22,
1996,''; and
(C) by striking ``adopted as of such date'' and
inserting ``adopted as of September 30, 2008''.
(2) Conforming amendment to title 28, united states code.--
Section 1738B of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(A) in subsection (d), by striking ``individual
contestant'' and inserting ``individual contestant or
the parties have consented in a record or open court
that the tribunal of the State may continue to exercise
jurisdiction to modify its order,'';
(B) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by striking
``individual contestant'' and inserting ``individual
contestant and the parties have not consented in a
record or open court that the tribunal of the other
State may continue to exercise jurisdiction to modify
its order''; and
(C) in subsection (b)--
(i) by striking ```child' means--'' and
inserting ``(1) The term `child' means'';
(ii) by striking ```child's State' means''
and inserting ``(2) The term `child's State'
means'';
(iii) by striking ```child's home State'
means'' and inserting ``(3) The term `child's
home State' means'';
(iv) by striking ```child support' means''
and inserting ``(4) The term `child support'
means'';
(v) by striking ```child support order'
means'' and inserting ``(5) The term `child
support order' means'';
(vi) by striking ```contestant' means'' and
inserting ``(6) The term `contestant' means'';
(vii) by striking ```court' means'' and
inserting ``(7) The term `court' means'';
(viii) by striking ```modification' means''
and inserting ``(8) The term `modification'
means''; and
(ix) by striking ```State' means'' and
inserting ``(9) The term `State' means''.
(3) Effective date; grace period for state law changes.--
(A) Paragraph (1).--(i) The amendments made by
paragraph (1) shall take effect with respect to a State
on the later of--
(I) October 1, 2013; or
(II) the effective date of laws enacted by
the legislature of the State implementing such
paragraph, but in no event later than the first
day of the first calendar quarter beginning
after the close of the first regular session of
the State legislature that begins after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(ii) For purposes of clause (i), in the case of a
State that has a 2-year legislative session, each year
of the session shall be deemed to be a separate regular
session of the State legislature.
(B) Paragraph (2).--(i) The amendments made by
subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) shall take
effect on the date on which the Hague Convention of 23
November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child
Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance enters
into force for the United States.
(ii) The amendments made by subparagraph (C) of
paragraph (2) shall take effect on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDIZATION FOR IMPROVED INTEROPERABILITY.
(a) In General.--Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652), as amended by section
2(a)(1) of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(o) Data Exchange Standardization for Improved
Interoperability.--
``(1) Data exchange standards.--
``(A) Designation.--The Secretary, in consultation
with an interagency work group which shall be
established by the Office of Management and Budget, and
considering State and tribal perspectives, shall, by
rule, designate a data exchange standard for any
category of information required to be reported under
this part.
``(B) Data exchange standards must be
nonproprietary and interoperable.--The data exchange
standard designated under subparagraph (A) shall, to
the extent practicable, be nonproprietary and
interoperable.
``(C) Other requirements.--In designating data
exchange standards under this section, the Secretary
shall, to the extent practicable, incorporate--
``(i) interoperable standards developed and
maintained by an international voluntary
consensus standards body, as defined by the
Office of Management and Budget, such as the
International Organization for Standardization;
``(ii) interoperable standards developed
and maintained by intergovernmental
partnerships, such as the National Information
Exchange Model; and
``(iii) interoperable standards developed
and maintained by Federal entities with
authority over contracting and financial
assistance, such as the Federal Acquisition
Regulatory Council.
``(2) Data exchange standards for reporting.--
``(A) Designation.--The Secretary, in consultation
with an interagency work group established by the
Office of Management and Budget, and considering State
and tribal perspectives, shall, by rule, designate data
exchange standards to govern the data reporting
required under this part.
``(B) Requirements.--The data exchange standards
required by subparagraph (A) shall, to the extent
practicable--
``(i) incorporate a widely-accepted,
nonproprietary, searchable, computer-readable
format;
``(ii) be consistent with and implement
applicable accounting principles; and
``(iii) be capable of being continually
upgraded as necessary.
``(C) Incorporation of nonproprietary standards.--
In designating reporting standards under this
paragraph, the Secretary shall, to the extent
practicable, incorporate existing nonproprietary
standards, such as the eXtensible Markup Language.''.
(b) Effective Dates.--
(1) Data exchange standards.--The Secretary of Health and
Human Services shall issue a proposed rule under section
452(o)(1) of the Social Security Act within 12 months after the
date of the enactment of this section, and shall issue a final
rule under such section 452(o)(1), after public comment, within
24 months after such date of enactment.
(2) Data reporting standards.--The reporting standards
required under section 452(o)(2) of such Act shall become
effective with respect to reports required in the first
reporting period, after the effective date of the final rule
referred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection, for which the
authority for data collection and reporting is established or
renewed under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
SEC. 4. EFFICIENT USE OF THE NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES DATABASE
FOR FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH ASSESSING THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF FEDERAL POLICIES AND PROGRAMS IN
ACHIEVING POSITIVE LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES.
Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended--
(1) in subsection (i)(2)(A), by striking ``24'' and
inserting ``48''; and
(2) in subsection (j), by striking paragraph (5) and
inserting the following:
``(5) Research.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B) of
this paragraph, the Secretary may provide access to
data in each component of the Federal Parent Locator
Service maintained under this section and to
information reported by employers pursuant to section
453A(b), for--
``(i) research undertaken by a State or
Federal agency (including through grant or
contract) for purposes found by the Secretary
to be likely to contribute to achieving the
purposes of part A or this part; or
``(ii) an evaluation or statistical
analysis undertaken to assess the effectiveness
of a Federal program in achieving positive
labor market outcomes (including through grant
or contract), by--
``(I) the Department of Health and
Human Services;
``(II) the Social Security
Administration;
``(III) the Department of Labor;
``(IV) the Department of Education;
``(V) the Department of Housing and
Urban Development;
``(VI) the Department of Justice;
``(VII) the Department of Veterans
Affairs;
``(VIII) the Bureau of the Census;
``(IX) the Department of
Agriculture; or
``(X) the National Science
Foundation.
``(B) Personal identifiers.--Data or information
provided under this paragraph may include a personal
identifier only if, in addition to meeting the
requirements of subsections (l) and (m)--
``(i) the State or Federal agency
conducting the research described in
subparagraph (A)(i), or the Federal department
or agency undertaking the evaluation or
statistical analysis described in subparagraph
(A)(ii), as applicable, enters into an
agreement with the Secretary regarding the
security and use of the data or information;
``(ii) the agreement includes such
restrictions or conditions with respect to the
use, safeguarding, disclosure, or redisclosure
of the data or information (including by
contractors or grantees) as the Secretary deems
appropriate;
``(iii) the data or information is used
exclusively for the purposes defined in the
agreement; and
``(iv) the Secretary determines that the
provision of data or information under this
paragraph is the minimum amount needed to
conduct the research, evaluation, or
statistical analysis, as applicable, and will
not interfere with the effective operation of
the program under this part.
``(C) Penalties for unauthorized disclosure of
data.--Any individual who willfully discloses a
personal identifier (such as a name or social security
number) provided under this paragraph, in any manner to
an entity not entitled to receive the data or
information, shall be guilty of a class E felony under
title 18, United States Code. Any penalty imposed under
the preceding sentence shall be in addition to any
applicable penalty under subsection (l).''.
SEC. 5. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional
Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, provided that
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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