[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 108 (Monday, July 28, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H5864-H5865]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AMENDING THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS ACT OF 
                                  1994

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1109) to amend the Immigration and Nationality Technical 
Corrections Act of 1994 to eliminate the special transition rule for 
issuance of a certificate of citizenship for certain children born 
outside the United States.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1109

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. ELIMINATION OF CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP 
                   TRANSITION RULE APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN CHILDREN.

       (a) In General.--Section 102 of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Public Law 
     103-416; 108 Stat. 4307) (as amended by section 671(b) of the 
     Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act 
     of 1996 (Public Law 104-208; 110 Stat. 3009-1856)) is amended 
     by striking subsection (e).
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 
     1994.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida [Mr. McCollum] and the gentlewoman from California [Ms. 
Lofgren], each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum].


                             General Leave

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the 
bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 1109, which I introduced with my colleague, 
the gentleman from California [Mr. Berman], to correct an error that 
was part of last year's immigration bill, the Illegal Immigration 
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act.
  H.R. 1109 would make a technical change regarding requirements for 
citizenship for people born overseas.
  I want to say that I am particularly appreciative of the gentleman 
from Texas [Mr. Smith], who is the chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Immigration and Claims, that deals with this product, for bringing it 
forward and recognizing the fact that we need it today. Unfortunately 
his commitments kept him from being here to be a party to this 
discussion. I am very happy to handle it for him today.
  The gentleman from California [Mr. Berman] and I had the pleasure of 
working together in 1994 on this issue. The Immigration and Nationality 
Technical Corrections Act of 1994 granted Americans abroad the 
possibility of obtaining U.S. citizenship for their minor children who 
had not acquired citizenship at birth. It allows certificates of 
citizenship to be granted to a child of a U.S. citizen if the child is 
under 18 and if either the American parent or the American parent's 
parent, that is, the American grandparent,

[[Page H5865]]

has spent 5 years in the United States with two of those five being 
after the age of 14.
  There were no policy problems brought before Congress with regard to 
this. However, the immigration bill in the last Congress included a 
change in this policy buried in the technical corrections part of the 
bill. This was most likely an innocent attempt to clean up an 
admittedly complicated statute, but this cosmetic change is doing harm. 
The change doubles the amount of time the parent or grandparent must 
have been in the United States for children born before November 14, 
1986. That means for children between 11 and 18, the parent and 
grandparent must have 10 years in the United States with 5 after the 
age of 14. Children born after November 14, 1986 are under the old 5 
and 2 rule.
  There is no need for the distinction. Not only is this unfair to many 
families who may have one child eligible for citizenship and another 
who is not, but it is also an administrative nightmare for the 
Immigration and Naturalization Service. The correction included in H.R. 
1109 needs to be enacted as soon as possible to make the situation 
right. The legislation has bipartisan support. I strongly urge an aye 
vote on it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 1109 is a technical amendment bill introduced by the gentleman 
from Florida [Mr. McCollum] and the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Berman]. I understand that the Senate recently passed S. 670, which is 
an identical piece of legislation, and that we will be calling up S. 
670 at the end of our debate on H.R. 1109 so that the legislation may 
go directly to the President when and if it passes.
  Section 322 of the Immigration and Nationality Act was amended last 
year to make it more difficult for certain children of U.S. citizens 
living abroad to receive certificates of citizenship. Section 322 
previously provided that a foreign born or adopted child of an American 
living abroad was eligible to receive a certificate of U.S. citizenship 
if he or she was under 18 years old and had an American parent or 
grandparent who spent a total of 5 years in the United States, at least 
2 of which were after age 14.
  The amendment, placed a special restriction on children born before 
November 14, 1986. For those children to be eligible to receive a 
certificate of U.S. citizenship, the American parents or grandparents 
are required to have been physically present in the United States for a 
total of 10 years, at least 5 of which were after age 14.
  Unfortunately, last year's conference committee meetings were closed. 
I have not been able to find anybody who can fully explain how this 
change came about or why it came about. It certainly does impose 
burdens on Americans that are unwise and that on a bipartisan basis we 
object to. I think it is one example again of how haste in these 
matters can end up producing bills that have consequences no one 
wanted. I would urge adoption of this measure as a sensible revision 
for what I think was a mistake made in the last Congress.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1109 which Mr. 
McCollum of Florida and I introduced on March 18th, 1997. This bill is 
a technical correction of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 
Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996 (Public Law 104-208). Let me 
explain the history behind this legislation.
  Section 322 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) establishes 
the criteria for citizenship of children born to U.S. citizens living 
abroad. Prior to 1986, for a U.S. citizen parent to transmit U.S. 
citizenship to his or her foreign-born or adopted child (before 
eighteen years of age), the American parent or grandparent had to have 
lived in the U.S. for 10 years, 5 of which had to be after age 
fourteen.
  The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) amended these 
requirements to five years of U.S. residency, two after the age of 
fourteen. Because the change in IRCA applied prospectively, some 
families had siblings subjected to different standards. Hence, section 
102 of the Immigration and National Technical Corrections Act of 1994 
(Public Law 103-416) was introduced to amend Section 322 of the INA and 
apply these lower standards retroactively.
  IIRIRA amended Section 322 by placing a special restriction on 
children born before November 14, 1986. For those children to be 
eligible for U.S. citizenship, the American parent or grandparent was 
once again required to have been physically present in the U.S. for a 
total of ten years, at least five of which were after the age fourteen.
  IIRIRA has inadvertently created the same problem that the 1994 
amendment to the INA was designed to cure, as siblings may once again 
find themselves subjected to different standards. The enactment of H.R. 
1109 will simply repeal this error and restore Section 322 to its pre-
IIRIRA status. The bill will also eliminate the extensive 
administrative confusion created by last year's immigration bill.
  There is no opposition to this legislation. I hope we can give 
favorable consideration to this technical correction of IIRIRA and I 
urge my colleagues to support it.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum] that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1109.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of the Senate 
bill (S. 670) to amend the Immigration and Nationality Technical 
Corrections Act of 1994 to eliminate the special transition rule for 
issuance of a certificate of citizenship for certain children born 
outside the United States, and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  Ms. LOFGREN. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Speaker, I shall not 
object, and I yield to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum] to 
explain the purpose of the request.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the request is to cull out 
the identical Senate bill to the bill we just passed, which is H.R. 
1109, and pass it so the legislation may go directly to the President 
after today. It is the identical bill. It just has a different Senate 
number on it instead of the House number.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, continuing my reservation of objection, I 
will not object. I just wanted Members of the House to understand what 
we are doing here.
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:

                                 S. 670

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. ELIMINATION OF CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP 
                   TRANSITION RULE APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN CHILDREN.

       (a) In General.--Section 102 of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Public Law 
     103-416; 108 Stat. 4307) (as amended by section 671(b) of the 
     Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act 
     of 1996 (Public Law 104-208; 110 Stat. 3009-1856)) is amended 
     by striking subsection (e).
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 
     1994.

  The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the 
third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.
  A similar House bill (H.R. 1109) was laid on the table.

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