42 USC 1313 – Assistance for United States citizens returned from foreign countries
(a) Authorization; reimbursement; utilization of facilities of public or private agencies and organizations
(1) The Secretary is authorized to provide temporary assistance to citizens of the United States and to dependents of citizens of the United States, if they (A) are identified by the Department of State as having returned, or been brought, from a foreign country to the United States because of the destitution of the citizen of the United States or the illness of such citizen or any of his dependents or because of war, threat of war, invasion, or similar crisis, and (B) are without available resources.
Terms Used In 42 USC 1313
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- State: when used in such subchapters (but not in subchapter XVI as in effect pursuant to such amendment after December 31, 1973) includes Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. See 42 USC 1301
- United States: means (but only for purposes of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph) the fifty States and the District of Columbia. See 42 USC 1301
(2) Except in such cases or classes of cases as are set forth in regulations of the Secretary, provision shall be made for reimbursement to the United States by the recipients of the temporary assistance to cover the cost thereof.
(3) The Secretary may provide assistance under paragraph (1) directly or through utilization of the services and facilities of appropriate public or private agencies and organizations, in accordance with agreements providing for payment, in advance or by way of reimbursement, as may be determined by the Secretary, of the cost thereof. Such cost shall be determined by such statistical, sampling, or other method as may be provided in the agreement.
(b) Plans and arrangements for assistance; consultations
The Secretary is authorized to develop plans and make arrangements for provision of temporary assistance within the United States to individuals specified in subsection (a)(1). Such plans shall be developed and such arrangements shall be made after consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Defense. To the extent feasible, assistance provided under subsection (a) shall be provided in accordance with the plans developed pursuant to this subsection, as modified from time to time by the Secretary.
(c) “Temporary assistance” defined
For purposes of this section, the term “temporary assistance” means money payments, medical care, temporary billeting, transportation, and other goods and services necessary for the health or welfare of individuals (including guidance, counseling, and other welfare services) furnished to them within the United States upon their arrival in the United States and for such period after their arrival, not exceeding ninety days, as may be provided in regulations of the Secretary; except that assistance under this section may be furnished beyond such ninety-day period in the case of any citizen or dependent upon a finding by the Secretary that the circumstances involved necessitate or justify the furnishing of assistance beyond such period in that particular case.
(d) Maximum total amount of temporary assistance
The total amount of temporary assistance provided under this section shall not exceed $1,000,000 during any fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2009, except that, in the case of fiscal years 2021 and 2022, the total amount of such assistance provided during each such fiscal year shall not exceed $10,000,000.
(e) Authority of Secretary to accept gifts
(1) The Secretary may accept on behalf of the United States gifts, in cash or in kind, for use in carrying out the program established under this section. Gifts in the form of cash shall be credited to the appropriation account from which this program is funded, in addition to amounts otherwise appropriated, and shall remain available until expended.
(2) Gifts accepted under paragraph (1) shall be available for obligation or other use by the United States only to the extent and in the amounts provided in appropriation Acts.