[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 5, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H3448-H3451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INTERNATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT RECOVERY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2012
Mr. BERG. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(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, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4282
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 amendments 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' '' and inserting
``(5) The term `child support order' '';
(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 earlier
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
[[Page H3449]]
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 fined under title
18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or
both.''.
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.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
North Dakota (Mr. Berg) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Dakota.
General Leave
Mr. BERG. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous material on the subject of the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from North Dakota?
There was no objection.
Mr. BERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise today with my colleague, Mr. Doggett of Texas, and other
members of the Human Resources Subcommittee of the Committee on Ways
and Means. I urge support for House Resolution 4282, as amended, the
International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act of 2012.
This bill provides the implementing legislation for the Hague
Convention on International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms
of Family Maintenance. Negotiation of this treaty began in 2003, and it
was eventually signed in 2007. The Senate then provided its consent in
2010. Now States cannot take advantage of the benefits of this treaty
until Congress moves forward.
Currently, States have the option to recognize child support orders
from other countries and many of them do. However, States have found
that other countries are less cooperative in recognizing our orders.
The Hague Convention seeks to address this issue by establishing a
standardized process so more countries cooperate in the collection of
child support. This will ensure that children in the United States have
the same access to financial support even when one of their parents is
abroad.
This bill is about empowering the States, which operate the child
support enforcement program, to do more for families and, most
importantly, for children.
My home State of North Dakota has already made the necessary changes
to its State law to accept the Hague Convention. Unfortunately, we are
one of only 10 States that have done so. The United States cannot
ratify the Hague Convention until all States make the necessary
changes, so now is the time to act.
On March 20, the Human Resources Subcommittee of the Committee on
Ways and Means had a hearing on this issue and heard that States are
waiting to follow our lead. It's time for this Chamber to do its job
and pass this bill, which will improve the program while resulting in
modest savings.
This bill also includes the continuation of our subcommittee's
bipartisan efforts to standardize the process and data, and improve the
exchange of data within and across human services programs. While the
child support system already relies heavily on data exchanges, it's
important for those efforts to be consistent with provisions we have
recently enacted in child welfare, TANF, and unemployment programs. The
goal is simple: improve government's efficiency; provide benefits to
those who are eligible; and drive out waste, fraud, and abuse.
Finally, this bill expands researcher's access to a database
maintained by the Office of Child Support Enforcement. The National
Directory of New Hires, NDNH, captures employment information for
individuals working in most jobs in the United States. Expanding access
to earning data in the NDNH will improve our ability to determine
whether Federal education, training, and social service programs help
people find and keep jobs.
According to the administration, most Federal agencies do not
currently have reliable access to data that can show the impact of
their programs on a participant's employment and earnings. In an era of
tighter resources, it's critical that we have reliable data to conduct
rigorous evaluations and make sure that Federal investments are getting
results.
The National Child Support Enforcement Association represents the
views of State agency child support directors and actively participated
in the negotiations of the Hague Convention.
I would like to thank Congressman Geoff Davis, the chairman of the
[[Page H3450]]
Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources. I would also like to
thank the subcommittee's ranking member, Mr. Doggett, who joins me on
the floor today, as well as other members of the subcommittee for their
support and original cosponsorship.
I invite all Members to join us in supporting this important
bipartisan legislation. It will move us a step closer to ratifying the
Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and
ensuring that more children living in the United States receive the
financial support they deserve.
I urge all my colleagues to support it and reserve the balance of my
time.
Coalition for
Evidence-Based Policy,
April 10, 2012.
Hon. Geoff Davis,
Chairman, House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on
Human Resources, Washington DC.
Hon. Lloyd Doggett,
Ranking Member, House Committee on Ways and Means,
Subcommittee on Human Resources, Washington DC.
Dear Chairman Davis and Ranking Member Doggett: I'm writing
to express our strong support for your subcommittee's
efforts, in H.R. 4282, to increase researcher access to the
National Directory of New Hires (NDNH).
As background, the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy is a
nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, whose mission is to
increase government effectiveness through rigorous evidence
about ``what works.'' We have no financial interest in this
or any other policy proposals or initiatives.
Our support for your proposal to increase researcher access
to NDNH is based on its potential to greatly lower the cost
and burden of conducting scientifically-rigorous evaluations
of employment programs, by enabling such studies to measure
employment and earnings outcomes using existing
administrative data rather than engaging in costly new data
collection (e.g., individual interviews).
As summarized in a short brief we recently developed--
Rigorous Program Evaluations on a Budget--in other policy
areas where administrative data are more accessible, such as
education and criminal justice, large-scale rigorous
evaluations have sometimes been conducted for as little as
$50,000 $100,000, producing valid evidence that is of policy
and practical importance. Researcher access to NDNH data
could bring this capability to workforce development policy,
greatly accelerating the development of credible evidence
about what works to improve the employment and earnings of
U.S. workers.
We appreciate your leadership on this important issue.
Please let us know if we can be of assistance as it goes
forward.
Sincerely,
Jon Baron,
President.
____
Building Knowledge
To Improve Social Policy,
June 4, 2012.
Hon. Congressman Berg,
Cannon House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congressman Berg: I am writing to congratulate you on
advancing H.R. 4282, The International Child Support Recovery
and Improvement Act of 2012, to the House floor. Thank you
again for inviting me to testify before the Human Resources
Subcommittee on Ways and Means.
As I stated in my recent testimony, this bill includes an
important technical provision that enables researchers to
more easily access the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH)
database, which contains earnings and employment data
collected by states from employers. Removing this barrier in
the law will result in more accurate, cost-effective
assessments of the employment effects of federal programs.
Independent research firms like MDRC are contracted by the
government to evaluate the extent to which federal programs
work; in many cases, a key measure of effectiveness is the
programs' long-term impact on participants' employment and
earnings. The NDNH database, maintained by the federal Office
of Child Support Enforcement, houses employment and earnings
data reported by the states for child support enforcement
purposes. However, research contractors are generally unable
to access this essential database. Instead they are forced to
get the very same data directly from the states, at great
cost to the federal government and at considerable burden in
duplicative reporting for the states.
In this time of severe budget constraints, Congress must
have credible, nonpartisan information to understand whether
federally supported programs actually help people find work
and increase their earnings. The technical provision in this
bill would ensure the availability of data necessary for
researchers to examine the effectiveness of these programs.
This provision expands researchers' access to NDNH data and
also maintains strong privacy protections. Since personally
identifiable information is contained in the NDNH database,
the provision requires research firms to continue to uphold
strict rules governing the data's confidentiality and
provides severe penalties for unauthorized disclosure of this
data.
Thank you for recognizing the importance of giving
researchers greater access to NDNH data. Attached is my
testimony for further reference.
Sincerely,
Gordon L. Berlin,
President, MDRC.
____
National Child Support
Enforcement Association,
McLean, VA, June 4, 2012.
Representative Geoff Davis, Chairman,
Representative Lloyd Doggett, Ranking Member,
Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, Longworth
House Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Davis and Ranking Member Doggett: The
National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA)
supports the bipartisan International Child Support Recovery
Improvement Act of 2012 (H.R. 4282) and applauds your efforts
to bring the measure to the House floor.
Section 2 of the bill provides the implementing language
necessary to ratify the 2007 Hague Convention Treaty on the
International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of
Family Maintenance. NCSEA members worked tirelessly on the
Convention. It contains procedures for processing
international child support cases that are uniform, simple,
efficient, accessible, and cost-free to U.S. citizens seeking
support in other countries. It is founded on the agreement of
countries that ratify the Convention to recognize and enforce
each other's support orders.
International cases can be challenging and very time
consuming for child support workers because there are no
agreed upon standards of proof, forms or methods of
communication. As more parents cross international borders
leaving children behind, international child support
enforcement is more important than ever.
For many international cases, U.S. courts and state Title
IV D child support enforcement agencies already recognize and
enforce child support obligations, whether or not the United
States has a reciprocal agreement with the other country.
However, many foreign countries will not enforce U.S. support
orders in the absence of a treaty obligation. Ratification of
the Convention by the United States will mean that more
children residing in the United States will receive financial
support from their parents residing in countries that are
also signatories to the Convention.
NCSEA has long sought congressional action on this issue,
so that our nation's children receive the financial support
to which they are entitled.
Thank you again for your leadership on this bill.
Sincerely,
Colleen Delaney Eubanks,
Executive Director.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I am pleased to join my colleague from North Dakota in our truly
bipartisan effort on behalf of H.R. 4282, the International Child
Support Recovery Improvement Act. He has made an excellent statement
regarding the need for this legislation.
International borders should never be barriers to children receiving
the financial support that their parents are obligated to provide, nor
should a parent be able to avoid their responsibility by just leaving
the country. That's why the United States has previously adopted
reciprocal agreements with a number of other nations to collect child
support from deadbeat parents who do not live in the same country as
their children. But these agreements don't cover many nations, and the
procedures sometimes vary from nation to nation. A more comprehensive
approach is to enter into a broad convention, another type of treaty,
to ensure the international collection of child support.
{time} 1930
In 2010, the Senate ratified the Hague Convention for the
International Recovery of Child Support. Today's bill simply implements
the treaty and provides that our child support collection across
America fully complies with our treaty obligations. This will assure
that more children living in the United States obtain the necessary
financial support from a parent living in another country, and it will
also protect taxpayers who ought not have to be responsible for
covering the expenses when a parent is obligated to do so.
Exemplifying the need for today's bill is the plea of a mother from
Houston, who wrote to the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement:
Please help me collect child support from my daughter's
father in Venezuela. We were married years ago in the United
States. It took a long time to finalize the divorce, as he
was out of the country. Finally, the divorce went through,
which at the time was a relief. But 3 to 4 years later, my
daughter is
[[Page H3451]]
12 and teenage expenses are kicking in. Regardless of the
divorce requirements, he states Venezuela is unable to
conduct business with the U.S., and he's unable to send money
on his own.
Our bill would provide relief to her and many other families. Child
support touches the lives of nearly one in four children across
America, securing financial support for almost 18 million children--
including a million and a half children in Texas--and it's played an
important role in keeping children out of poverty. Without its support,
roughly half a million children would have fallen into poverty in 2010.
This bill recognizes the general premise that both parents are
responsible for their children.
It would respond to another Texas mother who wrote the same office:
My ex-husband has been working for an international company
for nearly 6 years. His income the first year was $100,000.
To date, after taxes, he's clearing over $8,000 monthly. Per
our court order, I'm only receiving $260 a month, which is
now currently on hold. So therefore I'm not receiving any
funds from my child support at all. Please help me. I'm
making less money since I switched from the night shift to
days to be home with my two children. I keep making necessary
sacrifices, but I have no one to help me.
That's the kind of individual, the kind of children that would be
assisted by this legislation. Passing the act would access financial
support from a noncustodial parent living abroad. As with other
effective child support initiatives, taxpayers will benefit by not
being saddled with the cost of supporting children whose parents should
be doing so.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that this bill will
result in some modest net savings to the child support program. Child
support advocates, as Mr. Berg indicated, along with the American Bar
Association, the Conference of State Court Administrators, the
Conference of Chief Justices, and the National Center for State Courts
have all endorsed this legislation. It is truly a bipartisan effort
that improves the well-being of many children by ensuring that their
parents abroad continue to fulfill their obligations here at home in
the United States to their children.
I urge approval of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. BERG. Again, this legislation will help families, and most
importantly, children--help them receive the financial services they
need, regardless of where they live or where their parents live. I
appreciate the comments of our subcommittee ranking member who has
joined me here today on the floor in support of this bill, and I look
forward to continuing to work with him as we improve the child support
enforcement program.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Congress of the United States, House of Representatives,
Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, DC, May 18,
2012.
Hon. Dave Camp,
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, 1102 Longworth House
Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Camp, reference is made to H.R. 4282, the
``International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act of
2012,'' with respect to which the Committee on the Judiciary
received a referral. I understand that the bill may soon
proceed to consideration by the full House. As a result of
your having consulted with the Judiciary Committee concerning
provisions of the bill that fall within our Rule X
jurisdiction, and your agreement to call up an amended
version of the bill that is consistent with our mutual
understanding with respect to those provisions, I to agree to
discharge the Committee on the Judiciary from further
consideration of the bill so that the bill may proceed
expeditiously to the House Floor.
The Judiciary Committee takes this action with our mutual
understanding that, by foregoing consideration of H.R. 4282
at this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over the
subject matter contained in this or similar legislation, and
that our committee will be appropriately consulted and
involved as the bill or similar legislation moves forward so
that we may address any remaining issues that fall within our
Rule X jurisdiction. Our committee also reserves the right to
seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees to any
House-Senate conference involving this or similar
legislation, and requests your support for any such request.
Finally, I would appreciate your response to this letter
confirming this understanding with respect to H.R. 4282, and
would ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this
matter be included in the Congressional Record during floor
consideration thereof.
Sincerely,
Lamar Smith
Chairman.
____
Congress of the United States, House of Representatives,
Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC, May 23,
2012.
Hon. Lamar Smith,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, 2138 Rayburn House
Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Smith, thank you for your letter regarding
H.R. 4282, the ``International Child Support Recovery
Improvement Act of 2012,'' which the Committee on Ways and
Means anticipates may soon proceed to consideration by the
full House.
As introduced, H.R. 4282 contained two provisions (sections
2 and 4) that formed the basis of an additional referral of
the bill to your committee. I am most appreciative of your
decision to discharge the Committee on the Judiciary from
further consideration of H.R. 4282, as amended, so that it
may proceed to the House floor. I acknowledge that, although
you are waiving formal consideration of the bill, the
Committee on the Judiciary is in no way waiving its
jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in those
provisions of the bill, including sections 2 and 4 of the
bill as amended, which fall within your Rule X jurisdiction.
In addition, if a conference is necessary on this
legislation, I will support any request that your committee
be represented therein.
Finally, I will be pleased to include a copy of this
letter, as well as your letter dated May 18, 2012, in the
Congressional Record during floor consideration of H.R. 4282.
Dave Camp,
Chairman.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Berg) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 4282, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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