[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2026 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2026

To ensure that representative payees under the Social Security program 
               are subject to criminal background checks.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 16, 2011

   Mr. Casey introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To ensure that representative payees under the Social Security program 
               are subject to criminal background checks.

    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 ``Allowing Social Security to 
Electronically Screen for Suitability Act of 2011'' or the ``ASSESS 
Act''.

SEC. 2. BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES.

    (a) Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits.--Section 
205(j)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B)(i)(IV), by inserting ``subject to 
        subparagraph (F),'' before ``obtain information''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
    ``(F)(i) For purposes of subparagraph (B)(i)(IV), section 
807(b)(2)(D), and section 1631(a)(2)(B)(ii)(IV), the Attorney General 
of the United States (referred to in this subparagraph as the `Attorney 
General') and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
(referred to in this subparagraph as the `Director') shall provide the 
Commissioner of Social Security (referred to in this subparagraph as 
the `Commissioner') access to the criminal history record information 
contained in the National Crime Information Center's Interstate 
Identification Index (NCIC-III), Wanted Persons File, and to any other 
files maintained by the National Crime Information Center that may be 
mutually agreed upon by the Attorney General and the Commissioner.
    ``(ii) Access to information under this subparagraph shall be 
provided by means of extracts of the files described in clause (i) for 
placement in the appropriate database by the Commissioner, and shall be 
provided without any fee or charge. The Director shall provide periodic 
updates of the extracts at intervals mutually agreed upon with the 
Commissioner. Upon receipt of such updated extracts, the Commissioner 
shall make corresponding updates to the appropriate database and 
destroy previously provided extracts. The provision of the extracts 
described in this clause may be reconsidered by the Attorney General 
and the Commissioner upon the development and deployment of a more 
cost-effective and efficient means of sharing such information.
    ``(iii) Access to an extract described in clause (ii) does not 
entitle the Commissioner to obtain the full content of the 
corresponding automated criminal history record. To obtain the full 
content of a criminal history record, the Commissioner shall submit the 
fingerprints of the person subject to an investigation under 
subparagraph (A)(i) and any appropriate fingerprint processing fee 
authorized by law to the Criminal Justice Information Services Division 
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
    ``(iv) For purposes of administering this subparagraph, the 
Commissioner shall, prior to receiving access to the information 
described in clause (i) but not later than 12 months after the date of 
enactment of this subparagraph, promulgate final regulations--
            ``(I) for purposes of clause (iii), to implement procedures 
        for the taking of fingerprints; and
            ``(II) to establish the conditions for the use of any 
        information received from the Director, in order to--
                    ``(aa) limit the re-dissemination of such 
                information;
                    ``(bb) ensure that such information is used solely 
                for the purposes described in subparagraph (B)(i)(IV), 
                section 807(b)(2)(D), and section 
                1631(a)(2)(B)(ii)(IV);
                    ``(cc) ensure the security, confidentiality, and 
                destruction of such information; and
                    ``(dd) protect the privacy rights of individuals 
                who are subjects of such information.''.
    (b) Special Benefits for Certain Veterans.--Section 807(b)(2)(D) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1007(b)(2)(D)) is amended by 
inserting ``subject to section 205(j)(2)(F),'' before ``obtain 
information''.
    (c) Supplemental Security Income.--Section 1631(a)(2)(B)(ii)(IV) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)(B)(ii)(IV)) is amended by 
inserting ``subject to section 205(j)(2)(F),'' before ``obtain 
information''.
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