[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 19, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E69]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        IT IS TIME TO CHANGE THE STATUS OF PERSIAN GULF EVACUEES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 19, 1999

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, two years ago, during the 105th Congress, I 
considered it a duty to introduce private relief legislation on behalf 
of 62 families who were air-lifted out of Kuwait during Iraq's invasion 
of that country. These families were brought out of Kuwait 
involuntarily, most without the opportunity to bring private belongings 
or assets with them. nearly all have children who are U.S. citizens. As 
indicated by their having been cleared by the INS and the FBI, the 
Persian Gulf Evacuees [PGE's] are shown to be professionals who are 
gainfully employed, none of whom have become wards of the States in 
which they live, received welfare assistance, or otherwise broken any 
U.S. laws while in the United States.
  Because of their actions in Kuwait at great risk to themselves, to 
provide safe harbors of Americans trapped that country during Saddam 
Hussein's attack, these Persian Gulf evacuees deserve our utmost 
respect and gratitude.
  I urge my colleagues to take note of this private relief bill, 
because the Persian Gulf evacuee families are scattered all over the 
United States, and one or more families may live in your Congressional 
District, and they need your support to help get the bill out of 
committee and enacted into law.
  President George Bush, in air-lifting them out of Kuwait during those 
perilous days just prior to U.S. Military intervention, did so to 
protect their lives. He gave the evacuees five years of ``safe harbor'' 
in the United States during which time the evacuees made every effort 
to adjust their status to that of permanent immigrant. After President 
Bush left office, President Clinton extended their stay here for an 
additional two years.
  At the time of the air-lift, more than 2,000 individuals were 
involved; during the intervening years, all but 62 individuals and 
families have ``adjusted'' their status and have gained permanent 
immigrant status in the United States where, as I have said, they are 
self-supporting and have brought no financial burden upon the United 
States for their care and keeping.
  These 62 remaining individuals and families have not had their status 
adjusted in the intervening years because many of them ran into 
barriers between themselves and the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service [INS] that kept appropriate interviews from being conducted 
with the evacuees and further kept the FBI from starting and completing 
necessary background checks on the evacuees to assure they had 
committed no crimes while in the United States.
  Today, I have reintroduced a Private Relief Bill naming 62 
individuals and families who are known as Persian Gulf evacuees [PGE's] 
and I urge my colleagues to join with me to serve those evacuees who 
may live in your Congressional District to ensure appropriate action is 
taken this year to grant them permanent immigrant status in the United 
States.

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