[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 192 (Tuesday, December 3, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H9188-H9189]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CITIZENSHIP FOR CHILDREN OF MILITARY MEMBERS AND CIVIL SERVANTS ACT

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4803) to facilitate the automatic acquisition of citizenship 
for lawful permanent resident children of military and Federal 
Government personnel residing abroad, and for other purposes, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4803

       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 ``Citizenship for Children of 
     Military Members and Civil Servants Act''.

     SEC. 2. FACILITATING THE AUTOMATIC ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP 
                   FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENT CHILDREN OF 
                   MILITARY AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL 
                   RESIDING ABROAD.

       (a) In General.--Section 320 of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1431) is amended--
       (1) by striking the section header and inserting ``children 
     born outside the united states and lawfully admitted for 
     permanent residence; conditions under which citizenship 
     automatically acquired'';
       (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
       (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
       ``(c) Subsection (a)(3) is deemed satisfied in the case of 
     a child who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 
     the United States if--
       ``(1) the child is residing in the legal and physical 
     custody of a citizen parent who is--
       ``(A) stationed and residing abroad as an employee of the 
     Government of the United States; or
       ``(B) residing abroad in marital union with an employee of 
     the Government of the United States who is stationed abroad; 
     or
       ``(2) the child is--
       ``(A) residing in the legal and physical custody of a 
     citizen parent who is--
       ``(i) stationed and residing abroad as a member of the 
     Armed Forces of the United States; or
       ``(ii) authorized to accompany and reside abroad with a 
     member of the Armed Forces of the United States pursuant to 
     the member's official orders, and is so accompanying and 
     residing abroad with the member in marital union; and
       ``(B) authorized to accompany such member and reside abroad 
     with the member pursuant to the member's official orders, and 
     is so accompanying and residing with the member.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents for the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by striking the 
     item relating to section 320 and inserting the following:

``Sec. 320. Children born outside the United States and lawfully 
              admitted for permanent residence; conditions under which 
              citizenship automatically acquired.''.

     SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF 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 House 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 New 
York (Mr. Nadler) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cline) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to support H.R. 4803, the Citizenship for Children of Military 
Members and Civil Servants Act. This bipartisan legislation provides a 
simple solution to ease the burdens imposed by our current citizenship 
laws on those who have chosen to serve our Nation abroad, and their 
children.
  Most children who are born outside the United States to U.S. citizen 
parents are deemed U.S. citizens at birth. But under our current 
citizenship laws, this process can be more complicated for children 
whose parents don't meet certain bureaucratic requirements related to 
residency, a concept that is generally defined according to where one 
physically resides.
  This often affects military families and certain other Federal 
employees serving abroad. As a result, when establishing U.S. residency 
is not possible because of a parent's overseas service to the Nation, 
these families, who make great sacrifices for our country, are at a 
disadvantage.
  Without access to a streamlined citizenship process, parents must 
either guide their children through a lengthy and expensive 
naturalization process or find some alternative way to establish U.S. 
residency, which may even require them to cut short their overseas 
service commitment to the armed services.
  In August, Members on both sides of the aisle were taken aback by the 
administration's reversal of a 15-year-old policy that allowed families 
of military servicemembers and Federal Government employees to meet the 
residency requirement for acquisition of citizenship purposes while 
serving abroad.
  H.R. 4803 will implement a small but important fix to our citizenship 
laws by restoring and codifying the previous policy and bringing 
consistency to what were once differing policy provisions between the 
Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State.
  H.R. 4803 will provide greater flexibility to individuals who have 
dedicated their lives and careers to serving our Nation by treating 
their children like other children of U.S. citizens who were born 
overseas, allowing them to be automatically recognized as U.S. citizens 
once certain conditions are met.
  H.R. 4803 will thus eliminate the inconvenience, expense, and delays 
of the naturalization process that such children are required to 
undergo under current law and allow their parents to continue serving 
our Nation in the military without interruption.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins), my friend 
and colleague, for partnering with me on this commonsense, bipartisan 
fix, as

[[Page H9189]]

well as Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Thornberry, Subcommittee Chair 
Lofgren, Subcommittee Ranking Member Buck, along with Mr. Gallego and 
Mr. Lieu. I appreciate their willingness to work across the aisle and 
to demonstrate that it is possible to find common ground on some 
immigration and nationality issues.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, and I 
reserve balance of my time.
  Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4803, the 
Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act.
  Most people believe that, in all circumstances, as long as one parent 
is a U.S. citizen, a child is automatically a U.S. citizen. In reality, 
the Immigration and Nationality Act lays out specific residency, 
physical presence, and other requirements for when a child is deemed a 
U.S. citizen and what procedures a parent must go through to claim that 
citizenship.
  For instance, section 320 of the INA requires that a child of a U.S. 
citizen automatically becomes a U.S. citizen if the child is under the 
age of 18 and is ``residing in the United States in the legal and 
physical custody of the citizen pursuant to a lawful admission for 
permanent residence.''
  This creates a problem for some U.S. citizens and their families who 
are serving overseas in the military or other U.S. Government positions 
and who cannot return to the United States.
  Until very recently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 
USCIS, had been interpreting the term ``residing in'' to cover children 
of U.S. citizen government employees or members of the U.S. Armed 
Forces who were employed or stationed outside the U.S. That 
interpretation, however, was inconsistent with other parts of the INA 
and inconsistent, even, with the State Department's interpretation.
  Thus, there were instances when a U.S. citizen parent was told by 
USCIS that their child was automatically a U.S. citizen, but when the 
parent tried to obtain a U.S. passport for the child, they were told 
that the child was not yet a U.S. citizen because the proper process 
had not been followed.
  In late August, USCIS issued policy guidance aimed at correctly 
interpreting ``residing in'' to be consistent with the INA and the 
State Department's interpretation.
  It should be noted that, even if H.R. 4803 is not enacted, the 
children affected by USCIS' new guidance will still be able to claim 
U.S. citizenship; however, their families will have to jump through 
many more hoops to do so.
  Luckily, this issue affects fewer than 100 families per year, most of 
whom are cases of adoption or where the child is a teenager when the 
parent naturalizes.
  USCIS was legally correct to do what it did, but we in Congress are 
also right to make the technical change that allows the affected child 
to be automatically considered a U.S. citizen.
  The committee ranking member worked closely with Chairman Nadler to 
craft H.R. 4803. The bill deems the child of a U.S. citizen parent to 
be in compliance with the residence requirements of INA section 320 in 
circumstances where: one, the U.S. citizen parent is an employee of the 
U.S. Government stationed abroad or a spouse of that employee residing 
abroad with that employee; or, two, the U.S. citizen parent is a member 
of the Armed Forces stationed abroad or spouse of that member residing 
abroad with that member, and the child is authorized to and is 
accompanying the member.
  The bill ensures that children of U.S. Armed Forces members and U.S. 
Government personnel are not disadvantaged merely because their 
parents' service to our country requires them to be deployed abroad.
  I am pleased that the legislative process worked as it should, that 
Republicans and Democrats saw a legal issue that needed to be fixed and 
we worked together to pass the affecting legislation.
  I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This bipartisan legislation would provide greater flexibility and 
support to those who have dedicated their careers to serving our Nation 
when they have children born abroad.
  I again thank my colleagues for the bipartisan nature of the work and 
support of this bill. I urge all my colleagues to support the bill, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 
4803, the Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil 
Servants Act.
  I applaud Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and House 
Judiciary Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-GA) for introducing this 
bipartisan legislation aimed to fix a problem in current citizenship 
laws.
  The current citizenship law implemented by this Administration in 
October, serves as a disadvantage to certain children who are born 
abroad and reside with a parent serving overseas in the military or as 
a federal government employee.
  Under current law, such children are required to establish U.S. 
residency in order to obtain citizenship, which can be difficult when a 
parent is stationed overseas.
  This small but important change is the necessary fix for U.S. armed 
forces and in federal government positions overseas.
  I am glad we could work together to introduce this bipartisan 
legislation that provides greater flexibility and support to those who 
have dedicated their careers to serving our nation.
  American citizens who are deployed members of our military or 
government officials working abroad should have confidence their 
children will receive U.S. citizenship.
  Military families are already making tremendous sacrifices to serve 
our country abroad and the children should not have to be penalized.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4803 because our 
military families should not have to deal with the bureaucracy of this 
Administration for their children to be United States citizens.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4803, 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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