[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 439 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 439

 To authorize the establishment of a suboffice of the Immigration and 
            Naturalization Service in Nashville, Tennessee.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 1, 2001

Mr. Frist (for himself and Mr. Thompson) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the establishment of a suboffice of the Immigration and 
            Naturalization Service in Nashville, Tennessee.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nashville INS Suboffice Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Immigration and Naturalization Service field office 
        in Memphis, Tennessee, is designated as a suboffice within the 
        jurisdiction of the district office in New Orleans, Louisiana.
            (2) Over the past 10 years, the foreign national population 
        has grown substantially in the jurisdictional area of the 
        Memphis suboffice.
            (3) It is estimated that more than 200,000 foreign 
        nationals are residing in the jurisdictional area of the 
        Memphis suboffice.
            (4) The Memphis suboffice has pending an equal or greater 
        number of cases, and receives as many new cases, as the New 
        Orleans district office.
            (5) Approximately 46 percent of the total number of 
        permanent resident applications received by the Memphis 
        suboffice come from individuals residing in middle and eastern 
        Tennessee.
            (6) In many instances, such individuals have to travel 3 to 
        6 hours each way to Memphis to receive service.
            (7) Nashville is a logical location for a new Immigration 
        and Naturalization Service suboffice because its central 
        location will reduce such travel time and allow the Immigration 
        and Naturalization Service to provide better and more efficient 
        service to such individuals.
            (8) As the largest metropolitan area in the State of 
        Tennessee, major routes from across the State flow into 
        Nashville and air transportation is readily available there.
            (9) Establishment of a Nashville suboffice would make a 
        strong statement about the commitment of the Immigration and 
        Naturalization Service to gaining control over illegal 
        immigration and would facilitate legal immigration and 
        citizenship initiatives in central and eastern Tennessee.
            (10) Congress has identified Nashville as a region 
        underserved by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each fiscal 
year to establish and operate an Immigration and Naturalization Service 
suboffice in Nashville, Tennessee. Such suboffice shall have 
jurisdiction over the following counties in the State of Tennessee: 
Anderson, Bedford, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Cannon, Carter, 
Cheatham, Claiborne, Clay, Cocke, Coffee, Cumberland, Davidson, Dekalb, 
Dickson, Fentress, Franklin, Giles, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, 
Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Hawkins, Hickman, Houston, Humphries, 
Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, 
Macon, Marion, Marshall, Maury, McMinn, Meigs, Moore, Monroe, 
Montgomery, Morgan, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Polk, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, 
Robertson, Rutherford, Scott, Sevier, Sequatchie, Smith, Stewart, 
Sullivan, Sumner, Trousdale, Unicoi, Union, Van Buren, Warren, 
Washington, Wayne, White, Williamson, and Wilson.
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