Legislation to Create a National Birth and Death Registry
December 21st, 2007Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement Act of 2007 or SAVE Act of 2007, among many things, amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to make the basic employment eligibility confirmation pilot program permanent; sets forth conditions for the mandatory use of the E-verify system; and requires: (1) employer/employee notification of social security number mismatches and multiple uses, and related information sharing with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); and (2) establishment of electronic birth and death registration systems.
The Act’s stated purpose is to coordinate with states to establish a common data set and common data exchange protocol for electronic birth registration systems and death registration systems requirements, and for such systems to align with a national model. Sound familiar? Like the Real ID Act, the SAVE Act would impose federal standards on states for what was heretofore a state program.
Three active federal bills contain the SAVE Act of 2007:
H.R.4088 12/5/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities.
S.2366 11/15/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
S.2368 11/15/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
H.R. 4088, SEC. 203 reads:
ESTABLISHMENT OF ELECTRONIC BIRTH AND DEATH REGISTRATION SYSTEMS.
(a) In consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Commissioner of Social Security, the Secretary shall take the following actions:
(1) Work with the States to establish a common data set and common data exchange protocol for electronic birth registration systems and death registration systems.
(2) Coordinate requirements for such systems to align with a national model.
(3) Ensure that fraud prevention is built into the design of electronic vital registration systems in the collection of vital event data, the issuance of birth certificates, and the exchange of data among government agencies.
(4) Ensure that electronic systems for issuing birth certificates, in the form of printed abstracts of birth records or digitized images, employ a common format of the certified copy, so that those requiring such documents can quickly confirm their validity.
(5) Establish uniform field requirements for State birth registries.
(6) Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish a process with the Department of Defense that will result in the sharing of data, with the States and the Social Security Administration, regarding deaths of United States military personnel and the birth and death of their dependents.
(7) Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish a process with the Department of State to improve registration, notification, and the sharing of data with the States and the Social Security Administration, regarding births and deaths of United States citizens abroad.
(8) Not later than 3 years after the date of establishment of databases provided for under this section, require States to record and retain electronic records of pertinent identification information collected from requestors who are not the registrants.
(9) Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit to Congress a report on whether there is a need for Federal laws to address penalties for fraud and misuse of vital records and whether violations are sufficiently enforced.
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