Citizenship Empowerment Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1098 To require the chief election officials of the States to provide voter registration forms at certain naturalization proceedings, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 18, 2021 Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. TITUS, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. MEEKS, and Mr. KHANNA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To require the chief election officials of the States to provide voter registration forms at certain naturalization pro- ceedings, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Citizenship Empower- 4 ment Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. VOTER REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(b) of the National Voter 7 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20505(b)) is amend- 8 ed by striking ‘‘programs.’’ and inserting ‘‘programs, and 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1098.IH H1098 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1098 IH shall distribute such forms to each person who becomes 1 a citizen of the United States at a naturalization ceremony 2 in that State, at the conclusion of the ceremony.’’. 3 (b) FEDERAL COOPERATION.—Section 9 of the Na- 4 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20508) 5 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 6 section: 7 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL PROCEDURES FOR DEPARTMENT OF 8 HOMELAND SECURITY.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 10 Security shall implement such procedures as may be 11 necessary to enable the chief election officers of the 12 States to carry out the requirement under section 13 6(b) to provide mail voter registration forms at an 14 administrative naturalization ceremony, pursuant to 15 section 332(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 16 Act, or a judicial naturalization ceremony, pursuant 17 to section 310(b) of the Immigration and Nation- 18 ality Act. 19 ‘‘(2) PERMISSION TO PLACE EXHIBITS.—The 20 Secretary of Homeland Security shall implement 21 procedures to allow the chief election officer of a 22 State to provide information about voter registra- 23 tion, including through a display or exhibit, after the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1098.IH H1098 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1098 IH conclusion of an administrative naturalization cere- 1 mony in that State.’’. 2 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 3 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 4 respect to administrative and judicial naturalization cere- 5 monies conducted on or after the date that is 90 days after 6 the date of the enactment of this Act. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1098.IH H1098 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS