HR 1537 · 112th Congress 2011–2013, ended

Uniting American Families Act of 2011

Introduced Apr 14, 2011 Originated House Sponsor Jerrold Nadler D-NY

Latest action · Jun 1, 2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedApr 14, 2011
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Uniting American Families Act of 2011 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include a "permanent partner" within the scope of such Act. Defines a "permanent partner" as an individual 18 or older who: (1) is in a committed, intimate relationship with another individual 18 or older in which both individuals intend a lifelong commitment; (2) is financially interdependent with the other individual; (3) is not married to, or in a permanent partnership with, anyone other than the individual; (4) is unable to contract with the other individual a marriage cognizable under this Act; and (5) is not a first, second, or third degree blood relation of the other individual.

Defines: (1) "permanent partnership" as the relationship existing between two permanent partners, and (2) "alien permanent partner" as the individual in a permanent partnership who is being sponsored for a visa.

Cosponsors 144

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 14, 2011 to Dec 13, 2012; 100 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-CA	Adam B. Schiff	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-WA	Adam Smith	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NJ	Albio Sires	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-FL	Alcee L. Hastings	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-IN	André Carson	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Anna G. Eshoo	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Anthony D. Weiner	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Barbara Lee	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MA	Barney Frank	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MN	Betty McCollum	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-OH	Betty Sutton	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NJ	Bill Pascrell, Jr.	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Bob Filner	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-IL	Bobby L. Rush	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Carolyn B. Maloney	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Charles B. Rangel	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-ME	Chellie Pingree	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NC	David E. Price	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-RI	David N. Cicilline	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-OR	David Wu	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-FL	Debbie Wasserman Schultz	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-OH	Dennis J. Kucinich	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CO	Diana DeGette	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Doris O. Matsui	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-OR	Earl Blumenauer	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-AZ	Ed Pastor	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Edolphus Towns	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-DC	Eleanor Holmes Norton	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Eliot L. Engel	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Fortney Pete Stark	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NJ	Frank Pallone, Jr.	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Gary L. Ackerman	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	George Miller	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-VA	Gerald E. Connolly	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Grace F. Napolitano	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Gregory W. Meeks	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-WI	Gwen Moore	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Henry A. Waxman	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-GA	Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Howard L. Berman	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Jackie Speier	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CT	James A. Himes	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-SC	James E. Clyburn	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MA	James P. McGovern	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-VA	James P. Moran	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-RI	James R. Langevin	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-IL	Janice D. Schakowsky	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CO	Jared Polis	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-WA	Jay Inslee	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-IL	Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-WA	Jim McDermott	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CT	Joe Courtney	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MI	John Conyers, Jr.	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-GA	John Lewis	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MA	John W. Olver	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Jose E. Serrano	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Joseph Crowley	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Judy Chu	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Karen Bass	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-FL	Kathy Castor	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MN	Keith Ellison	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Laura Richardson	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Linda T. Sánchez	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Lois Capps	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Lucille Roybal-Allard	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-IL	Luis V. Gutierrez	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Lynn C. Woolsey	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NM	Martin Heinrich	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Maurice D. Hinchey	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Maxine Waters	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-HI	Mazie K. Hirono	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MA	Michael E. Capuano	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-PA	Michael F. Doyle	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Michael M. Honda	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-IL	Mike Quigley	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Nancy Pelosi	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MA	Niki Tsongas	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Nita M. Lowey	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Paul Tonko	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-OR	Peter A. DeFazio	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-VT	Peter Welch	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-AZ	Raúl M. Grijalva	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-WA	Rick Larsen	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-PA	Robert A. Brady	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CT	Rosa L. DeLauro	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NJ	Rush Holt	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Sam Farr	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-TX	Sheila Jackson Lee	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NV	Shelley Berkley	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MD	Steny H. Hoyer	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Steve Israel	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NJ	Steven R. Rothman	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Susan A. Davis	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-WI	Tammy Baldwin	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-FL	Theodore E. Deutch	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Timothy H. Bishop	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MO	Wm. Lacy Clay	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Xavier Becerra	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-NY	Yvette D. Clarke	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-CA	Zoe Lofgren	Original	Apr 14, 2011
D-MI	Sander M. Levin		Apr 15, 2011
D-NY	William L. Owens		Apr 15, 2011
D-CA	Brad Sherman		May 5, 2011
D-NY	Carolyn McCarthy		May 5, 2011
D-MD	Elijah E. Cummings		May 5, 2011
D-ME	Michael H. Michaud		May 5, 2011
D-OH	Tim Ryan		May 5, 2011
D-PA	Chaka Fattah		May 13, 2011
D-MA	John F. Tierney		May 13, 2011
D-VA	Robert C. "Bobby" Scott		May 26, 2011
D-NY	Brian Higgins		Jun 14, 2011
D-MA	Edward J. Markey		Jun 14, 2011
D-NC	Brad Miller		Jun 24, 2011
D-OH	Marcia L. Fudge		Jun 24, 2011
D-HI	Colleen Hanabusa		Jul 8, 2011
D-FL	Frederica S. Wilson		Jul 15, 2011
D-MI	Hansen Clarke		Jul 15, 2011
D-CA	John Garamendi		Jul 15, 2011
D-MA	William R. Keating		Jul 15, 2011
D-IL	Danny K. Davis		Aug 9, 2011
D-MO	Emanuel Cleaver		Sep 7, 2011
D-CA	Mike Thompson		Sep 7, 2011
D-CT	John B. Larson		Sep 15, 2011
D-MI	Gary C. Peters		Oct 3, 2011
D-NY	Nydia M. Velázquez		Nov 4, 2011
D-CT	Christopher Murphy		Dec 2, 2011
D-CA	Janice Hahn		Dec 2, 2011
D-NJ	Donald M. Payne		Dec 16, 2011
D-CA	Joe Baca		Dec 16, 2011
D-NJ	Robert E. Andrews		Jan 24, 2012
D-MD	John P. Sarbanes		Mar 8, 2012
D-TX	Ruben Hinojosa		Mar 8, 2012
D-OR	Suzanne Bonamici		Mar 8, 2012
D-PA	Allyson Y. Schwartz		Apr 19, 2012
D-MA	Richard E. Neal		Apr 27, 2012
D-MO	Russ Carnahan		Jun 8, 2012
D-DE	John C. Carney, Jr.		Jun 19, 2012
D-TX	Silvestre Reyes		Jul 18, 2012
D-MD	Chris Van Hollen		Sep 14, 2012
D-TX	Eddie Bernice Johnson		Sep 14, 2012
D-WI	Ron Kind		Sep 14, 2012
D-MD	Donna F. Edwards		Sep 21, 2012
R-PA	Charles W. Dent		Dec 13, 2012
R-NY	Richard L. Hanna		Dec 13, 2012

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Judiciary Committee	Referred Apr 14, 2011
	Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee	Referred Jun 1, 2011

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

Jun 1, 2011Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.
Apr 14, 2011Introduced in House
Apr 14, 2011Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

In the Congressional Record 1

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

Where	In the Record	Members	Date
House	Debate and remarks H3809	Earl Blumenauer D-OR	Jun 20, 2012

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article I, Section 8, Clauses 4 and 18.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the page H2856.

Related bills 2

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
S 821	Uniting American Families Act of 2011	Related bill	Apr 14, 2011
HR 1796	Reuniting Families Act	Related bill	Jun 1, 2011

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote family unity, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced: Uniting American Families Act of 2011

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Immigration.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Apr 14, 2011Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.