§ 1379. Technology standard to confirm identity

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

1. 2001

   International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001

   Pub. L. 107–56 title IV § 403(c) · 115 Stat. 272

   Enacted · 8 U.S.C. § 1379

   Pub. L. 107–56, title IV, § 403(c), Oct. 26, 2001, 115 Stat. 344

   Source evidence

   Code source credit
   Pub. L. 107–56, title IV, § 403(c), Oct. 26, 2001, 115 Stat. 344

   Enacted provision · exact public law section
   (c) Technology Standard to Confirm Identity.— (1) In General.— The Attorney General and the Secretary of State jointly, through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and other Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies the Attorney General or Secretary of State deems appropriate and in consultation with Congress, shall within 2 years after the date of the enactment of this section, develop and certify a technology standard that can be used to verify the identity of persons applying for a United States visa or such persons seeking to enter the United States pursuant to a visa for the purposes of conducting background checks, confirming identity, and ensuring that a person has not received a visa under a different name or such person seeking to enter the United States pursuant to a visa. (2) Integrated.— The technology standard developed pursuant to paragraph (1), shall be the technological basis for a cross-agency, cross-platform electronic system that is a cost-effective, efficient, fully integrated means to share law enforcement and intelligence information necessary to confirm the identity of such persons applying for a United States visa or such person seeking to enter the United States pursuant to a visa. (3) Accessible.— The electronic system described in paragraph (2), once implemented, shall be readily and easily accessible to— (A) all consular officers responsible for the issuance of visas; (B) all Federal inspection agents at all United States border inspection points; and (C) all law enforcement and intelligence officers as determined by regulation to be responsible for investigation or identification of aliens admitted to the United States pursuant to a visa. (4) Report.— Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Attorney General and the Secretary of State shall jointly, in consultation with the Secretary of Treasury, report to Congress describing the development, implementation, efficacy, and privacy implications of the technology standard and electronic database system described in this subsection. (5) Funding.— There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection.

2. 2002

   Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002

   Pub. L. 107–173 title II · 116 Stat. 543

   1. Substituted · 8 U.S.C. § 1379(1)

      Pub. L. 107–173, §§ 201(c)(5)(A), 202(a)(4)(B)(i), substituted “15 months” for “2 years”

   2. Inserted · 8 U.S.C. § 1379(1)

      Pub. L. 107–173, §§ 201(c)(5)(A), 202(a)(4)(B)(i), inserted “, including appropriate biometric identifier standards,” after “technology standard”

   Source evidence

   Code amendment note
   Par. (1). Pub. L. 107–173, §§ 201(c)(5)(A), 202(a)(4)(B)(i), substituted “15 months” for “2 years” and inserted “, including appropriate biometric identifier standards,” after “technology standard”.

   Enacted provision · exact public law
   TITLE II— INTERAGENCY INFORMATION SHARING SEC. 201. INTERIM MEASURES FOR ACCESS TO AND COORDINATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER INFORMATION. (a) Interim Directive.— Until the plan required by subsection (c) is implemented, Federal law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community shall, to the maximum extent practicable, share any information with the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service relevant to the admissibility and deportability of aliens, consistent with the plan described in subsection (c). (b) Report Identifying Law Enforcement and Intelligence Information.— (1) In general.— Not later than 120 days after the date Deadline. of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the President. appropriate committees of Congress a report identifying Federal law enforcement and the intelligence community information needed by the Department of State to screen visa applicants, or by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to screen applicants for admission to the United States, and to identify those aliens inadmissible or deportable under the Immigration and Nationality Act. (2) Repeal.— Section 414(d) of the USA PATRIOT Act is 8 USC 1365a note. hereby repealed. (c) Coordination Plan.— (1) Requirement for plan.— Not later than one year after Deadline. the date of enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act, the President President. shall develop and implement a plan based on the findings of the report under subsection (b) that requires Federal law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community to provide to the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service all information identified in that report as expeditiously as practicable. (2) Consultation requirement.— In the preparation and implementation of the plan under this subsection, the President shall consult with the appropriate committees of Congress. (3) Protections regarding information and uses thereof.— The plan under this subsection shall establish conditions for using the information described in subsection (b) received by the Department of State and Immigration and Naturalization Service— (A) to limit the redissemination of such information; (B) to ensure that such information is used solely to determine whether to issue a visa to an alien or to determine the admissibility or deportability of an alien to the United States, except as otherwise authorized under Federal law; (C) to ensure the accuracy, security, and confidentiality of such information; (D) to protect any privacy rights of individuals who are subjects of such information; (E) to provide data integrity through the timely removal and destruction of obsolete or erroneous names and information; and (F) in a manner that protects the sources and methods used to acquire intelligence information as required by section 103)(6) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 403-3(c)(6)). (4) Criminal penalties for misuse of information.— Any person who obtains information under this subsection without authorization or exceeding authorized access (as defined in section 1030(e) of title 18, United States Code), and who uses such information in the manner described in any of the paragraphs (1) through (7) of section 1030(a) of such title, or attempts to use such information in such manner, shall be subject to the same penalties as are applicable under section 1030(c) of such title for violation of that paragraph. (5) Advancing deadlines for a technology standard and report.— Section 403(c) of the USA PATRIOT Act is amended— (A) in paragraph (1), by striking “2 years” and inserting “15 months”; and (B) in paragraph (4), by striking “18 months” and inserting “one year”. SEC. 202. INTEROPERABLE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE DATA SYSTEM WITH NAME-MATCHING CAPACITY AND TRAINING. (a) Interoperable Law Enforcement and Intelligence Electronic Data System.— (1) Requirement for integrated immigration and naturalization Data System.— The Immigration and Naturalization Service shall fully integrate all databases and data systems maintained by the Service that process or contain information on aliens. The fully integrated data system shall be an interoperable component of the electronic data system described in paragraph (2). (2) Requirement for interoperable data system.— Upon the date of commencement of implementation of the plan required by section 201(c), the President shall develop and implement an interoperable electronic data system to provide current and immediate access to information in databases of Federal law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community that is relevant to determine whether to issue a visa or to determine the admissibility or deportability of an alien (also known as the “Chimera system”). (3) Consultation requirement.— In the development and President. implementation of the data system under this subsection, the President shall consult with the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and any such other agency as may be deemed appropriate. (4) Technology standard.— (A) In general.— The data system developed and implemented under this subsection, and the databases referred to in paragraph (2), shall utilize the technology standard established pursuant to section 403(c) of the USA PATRIOT Act, as amended by section 201(c)(5) and subparagraph (B). (B) Conforming amendment.— Section 403(c) of the USA PATRIOT Act, as amended by section 201(c)(5), is 8 USC 1379. further amended— (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting including appropriate biometric identifier standards,” after “technology standard”; and (ii) in paragraph (2) — (I) by striking “Integrated” and inserting “Interoperable”; and (II) by striking “integrated” and inserting “interoperable”. (5) Access to information in data system.— Subject to paragraph (6), information in the data system under this subsection shall be readily and easily accessible— (A) to any consular officer responsible for the issuance of visas; (B) to any Federal official responsible for determining an alien’s admissibility to or deportability from the United States; and (C) to any Federal law enforcement or intelligence officer determined by regulation to be responsible for the investigation or identification of aliens. (6) Limitation on ACCESS.— The President shall, in President. accordance with applicable Federal laws, establish procedures to Procedures. restrict access to intelligence information in the data system under this subsection, and the databases referred to in paragraph (2), under circumstances in which such information is not to be disclosed directly to Government officials under paragraph (5). (b) Name-Search Capacity and Support.— (1) In general.— The interoperable electronic data system required by subsection (a) shall— (A) have the capacity to compensate for disparate name formats among the different databases referred to in subsection (a); (B) be searchable on a linguistically sensitive basis; (C) provide adequate user support; (D) to the extent practicable, utilize commercially available technology; and (E) be adjusted and improved, based upon experience with the databases and improvements in the underlying technologies and sciences, on a continuing basis. (2) Linguistically sensitive searches.— (A) In general.— To satisfy the requirement of paragraph (1)(B), the interoperable electronic database shall be searchable based on linguistically sensitive algorithms that— (i) account for variations in name formats and transliterations, including varied spellings and varied separation or combination of name elements, within a particular language; and (ii) incorporate advanced linguistic, mathematical, statistical, and anthropological research and methods. (B) Languages required.— (i) Priority languages.— Linguistically sensitive algorithms shall be developed and implemented for no fewer than 4 languages designated as nigh priorities by the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Attorney General and the Director of Central Intelligence. (ii) Implementation schedule.— Of the 4 linguistically sensitive algorithms required to be developed and implemented under clause (i)— (I) the highest priority language algorithms shall be implemented within 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act; and (II) an additional language algorithm shall be implemented each succeeding year for the next three years. (3) Adequate user support.— The Secretary of State and the Attorney General shall jointly prescribe procedures to ensure that consular and immigration officers can, as required, obtain assistance in resolving identity and other questions that may arise about the names of aliens seeking visas or admission to the United States that may be subject to variations in format, transliteration, or other similar phenomenon. (4) Interim reports.— Six months after the date of enactment President. of this Act, the President shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress on the progress in implementing each requirement of this section. (5) Reports by intelligence agencies.— (A) Current standards.— Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of Central Intelligence shall complete the survey and issue the report previously required by section 309(a) of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 (50 U.S.C. 4033 note). (B) Guidelines.— Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of Central Intelligence shall issue the guidelines and submit the copy of those guidelines previously required by section 309(b) of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 (50 U.S.C. 403-3 note). (6) Authorization of appropriations.— There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection. SEC. 203. COMMISSION ON INTEROPERABLE DATA SHARING. (a) Establishment.— Not later than one year after the date Deadlines. of enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act, the President shall establish President. a Commission on Interoperable Data Sharing (in this section referred to as the “Commission”). The purposes of the Commission shall be to— (1) monitor the protections described in section 201(c)(3); (2) provide oversight of the interoperable electronic data system described in section 202; and (3) report to Congress annually on the Commission’s Reports. findings and recommendations. (b) Composition.— The Commission shall consist of nine members President. , who shall be appointed by the President, as follows: (1) One member, who shall serve as Chair of the Commission. (2) Eight members, who shall be appointed from a list of nominees jointly provided by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the Senate. (c) Considerations.— The Commission shall consider recommendations regarding the following issues: (1) Adequate protection of privacy concerns inherent in the design, implementation, or operation of the interoperable electronic data system. (2) Timely adoption of security innovations, consistent with generally accepted security standards, to protect the integrity and confidentiality of information to prevent the risks of accidental or unauthorized loss, access, destruction, use modification, or disclosure of information. (3) The adequacy of mechanisms to permit the timely correction of errors in data maintained by the interoperable data system.— (4) Other protections against unauthorized use of data to guard against the misuse of the interoperable data system or the data maintained by the system, including recommendations for modifications to existing laws and regulations to sanction misuse of the system. (d) Authorization of Appropriations.— There are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. SEC. 204. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES FOR POSITIONS INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTEROPERABLE ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEM (“CHIMERA SYSTEM”). (a) In General.— Notwithstanding any other provision of law relating to position classification or employee pay or performance, the Attorney General may hire and fix the compensation of necessary scientific, technical, engineering, and other analytical personnel for the purpose of the development and implementation of the interoperable electronic data system described in section 202(a)(2) (also known as the “Chimera system”). (b) Limitation on Rate of Pay.— Except as otherwise provided by law, no employee compensated under subsection (a) may be paid at a rate in excess of the rate payable for a position at level III of the Executive Schedule. (c) Limitation on Total Calendar Year Payments.— Total payments to employees under any system established under this section shall be subject to the limitation on payments to employees under section 5307 of title 5, United States Code. (d) Operating Plan.— Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives an operating plan— (1) describing the Attorney General’s intended use of the authority under this section; and (2) identifying any provisions of title 5, United States Code, being waived for purposes of the development and implementation of the Chimera system. (e) Termination Date.— The authority of this section shall terminate upon the implementation of the Chimera system.

3. 2002

   Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002

   Pub. L. 107–173 § 202(a)(4)(B)(ii) · 116 Stat. 543

   1. Substituted · 8 U.S.C. § 1379(2)

      Pub. L. 107–173, § 202(a)(4)(B)(ii), substituted “Interoperable” for “Integrated” in text

   2. Substituted · 8 U.S.C. § 1379(2)

      Pub. L. 107–173, § 202(a)(4)(B)(ii), substituted “interoperable” for “integrated” in text

   Source evidence

   Code amendment note
   Par. (2). Pub. L. 107–173, § 202(a)(4)(B)(ii), substituted “Interoperable” for “Integrated” in heading and “interoperable” for “integrated” in text.

   Enacted provision · exact public law section
   (ii) in paragraph (2) —

4. 2002

   Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002

   Pub. L. 107–173 § 201(c)(5)(B) · 116 Stat. 543

   Substituted · 8 U.S.C. § 1379(4)

   Pub. L. 107–173, § 201(c)(5)(B), substituted “one year” for “18 months”

   Source evidence

   Code amendment note
   Par. (4). Pub. L. 107–173, § 201(c)(5)(B), substituted “one year” for “18 months”.

   Enacted provision · exact public law section
   (B) in paragraph (4), by striking “18 months” and inserting “one year”.

4 of 6 references resolved to an enrolled provision · 2 partial