[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 45 (Thursday, March 20, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4222-S4223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S4222]]
                IRAQI SCIENTISTS IMMIGRATION ACT OF 2003

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 9, S. 205.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 205) to authorize the issuance of immigrant 
     visas to, and the admission to the United States for 
     permanent residence of, certain scientists, engineers, and 
     technicians who have worked in Iraqi weapons of mass 
     destruction programs.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. LEAHY. I applaud the Senate for passing S. 205, the Iraqi 
Scientists Immigration Act. I am a cosponsor of this legislation, along 
with Senators Biden, Hatch, Lugar, and Specter. When Senator Biden 
introduced this last year, I worked closely with him, discharging the 
bill from the Judiciary Committee and encouraging the Senate to pass 
it. I was pleased when the Senate did so, and disappointed that the 
House failed to act.
  This bill could not be more timely. As the United States and United 
Nations seek to obtain information about Iraq's development of weapons 
of mass destruction, the scientists who have worked on biological, 
chemical, and nuclear weapons for Iraq hold critical information. Thus 
far, however, those scientists have refused to speak privately with 
U.N. inspectors, instead insisting that Iraqi government 
representatives be included in interviews. Many have suggested that 
these scientists fear they will be executed if they provide material 
assistance to the inspectors.
  The Iraqi Scientists Immigration Act offers a potential way around 
this quandary by offering a benefit to those scientists who would like 
to share what they know about Iraq's weapons development. It provides 
for the admission to the United States of scientists who want to 
provide useful information about Iraq's efforts to develop weapons of 
mass destruction, along with those scientists' families. Eventually, 
these scientists could become legal permanent residents of the United 
States.
  This bill has taken on increased importance since the Homeland 
Security Act--which has caused severe disruption in the processing of 
asylum and refugee applications--has taken effect. Many Iraqi 
scientists would surely be eligible for asylum and/or refugee status. 
Section 457 of the Homeland Security Act, however, eliminated the 
surcharges on applicants for immigration benefits, which had been used 
to fund the processing of asylum and refugee applications, which are 
generally made by destitute people. This was apparently an oversight in 
the hasty and secret process by which the Homeland Security Act was 
written by Congressional Republicans and the administration. This 
provision has left the asylum and refugee programs in limbo. The 
Senate-passed omnibus appropriations bill includes language to strike 
section 457 and restore the status quo, but the prospects for that 
change will remain unclear until the conference committee has completed 
its work. This gives us an added incentive to pass the Iraqi Scientists 
Immigration Act as quickly as possible. I urge the House to take the 
bill up and pass it without further delay.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the bill be read 
a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, 
and any statements related thereto be printed in the Record, without 
further intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 205) was read the third time and passed, as follows:

                                 S. 205

       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 ``Iraqi Scientists Immigration 
     Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. ADMISSION OF CRITICAL ALIENS.

       (a) Nonimmigrant Category.--Section 101(a)(15) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) is 
     amended--
       (1) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (U);
       (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (V) 
     and inserting ``; or''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(W) Subject to section 214(s), an alien--
       ``(i) who the Attorney General determines, in coordination 
     with the Secretary of State, the Director of Central 
     Intelligence, and such other officials as he may deem 
     appropriate, and in the Attorney General's unreviewable 
     discretion, is an individual--
       ``(I) who has worked at any time in an Iraqi program to 
     produce weapons of mass destruction or the means to deliver 
     them;
       ``(II) who is in possession of critical and reliable 
     information concerning any such Iraqi program;
       ``(III) who is willing to provide, or has provided, such 
     information to the United States Government;
       ``(IV) who may be willing to provide, or has provided, such 
     information to inspectors of the United Nations or of the 
     International Atomic Energy Agency;
       ``(V) who will be or has been placed in danger as a result 
     of providing such information; and
       ``(VI) whose admission would be in the public interest or 
     in the interest of national security; or
       ``(ii) who is the spouse, married or unmarried son or 
     daughter, parent, or other relative, as determined by the 
     Attorney General in his unreviewable discretion, of an alien 
     described in clause (i), if accompanying or following to join 
     such alien, and whose admission the Attorney General, in 
     coordination with the Secretary of State and the Director of 
     Central Intelligence, determines in his unreviewable 
     discretion is in the public interest or in the interest of 
     national security.''.
       (b) Limitations and Conditions Applicable to ``W'' 
     Nonimmigrants.--Section 214 of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsections (m) (as added by section 
     105 of Public Law 106-313), (n) (as added by section 107(e) 
     of Public Law 106-386), (o) (as added by section 1513(c) of 
     Public Law 106-386), (o) (as added by section 1102(b) of the 
     Legal Immigration Family Equity Act), and (p) (as added by 
     section 1503(b) of the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act) 
     as subsections (n), (o), (p), (q), and (r), respectively; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(s) Numerical Limitations and Conditions of Admission and 
     Stay For Nonimmigrants Admitted Under Section 
     101(a)(15)(W).--
       ``(1) Limitation.--The number of aliens who may be admitted 
     to the United States or otherwise granted status under 
     section 101(a)(15)(W)(i) may not exceed a total of 500.
       ``(2) Conditions.--As a condition for the admission, and 
     continued stay in lawful status, of any alien admitted to the 
     United States or otherwise granted status as a nonimmigrant 
     under section 101(a)(15)(W), the nonimmigrant--
       ``(A) shall report to the Attorney General such information 
     concerning the alien's whereabouts and activities as the 
     Attorney General may require;
       ``(B) may not be convicted of any criminal offense 
     punishable by a term of imprisonment of 1 year or more after 
     the date of such admission or grant of status;
       ``(C) must have executed a form that waives the 
     nonimmigrant's right to contest, other than on the basis of 
     an application for withholding of removal or for protection 
     under the Convention Against Torture, any action for removal 
     of the alien instituted before the alien obtains lawful 
     permanent resident status;
       ``(D) shall cooperate fully with all requests for 
     information from the United States Government including, but 
     not limited to, fully and truthfully disclosing to the United 
     States Government all information in the alien's possession 
     concerning any Iraqi program to produce weapons of mass 
     destruction or the means to deliver them; and
       ``(E) shall abide by any other condition, limitation, or 
     restriction imposed by the Attorney General.''.
       (c) Adjustment of Status.--Section 245 of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (c)--
       (A) by striking ``or'' before ``(8)''; and
       (B) by inserting before the period ``or (9) an alien who 
     was admitted as a nonimmigrant described in section 
     101(a)(15)(W)'';
       (2) by redesignating subsection (l), relating to ``U'' visa 
     nonimmigrants, as subsection (m); and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(n) Adjustment to Permanent Resident Status of `W' 
     Nonimmigrants.--
       ``(1) In general.--If, in the opinion of the Attorney 
     General, a nonimmigrant admitted into the United States (or 
     otherwise provided nonimmigrant status) under section 
     101(a)(15)(W)(i) has complied with section 214(s) since such 
     admission or grant of status, the Attorney General may, in 
     coordination with the Secretary of State and the Director of 
     Central Intelligence, and in his unreviewable discretion, 
     adjust the status of the alien (and any alien who has 
     accompanied or followed to join such alien pursuant to 
     section 101(a)(15)(W)(ii) and who has complied with section 
     214(s) since admission or grant of nonimmigrant status) to 
     that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if 
     the alien is not described in section 212(a)(3)(E).
       ``(2) Record of admission; reduction in visa numbers.--Upon 
     the approval of adjustment of status of any alien under 
     paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall record the

[[Page S4223]]

     alien's lawful admission for permanent residence as of the 
     date of such approval and the Secretary of State shall reduce 
     by one the number of visas authorized to be issued under 
     sections 201(d) and 203(b)(4) for the fiscal year then 
     current.''.
       (d) Waiver Authority.--Section 212(d) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)) is amended by 
     inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph:
       ``(2) The Attorney General shall determine whether a ground 
     of inadmissibility exists with respect to a nonimmigrant 
     described in section 101(a)(15)(W). The Attorney General, in 
     the Attorney General's discretion, may waive the application 
     of subsection (a) in the case of such a nonimmigrant if the 
     Attorney General considers it to be in the public interest or 
     in the interest of national security.''.
       (e) Conforming Amendment.--Section 248(1) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1258(1)) is amended 
     by striking ``or (S)'' and inserting ``(S), or (W)''.

     SEC. 3. WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION DEFINED.

       (a) In General.--In this Act, the term ``weapon of mass 
     destruction'' has the meaning given the term in section 
     1403(1) of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction 
     Act of 1996 (title XIV of Public Law 104-201; 110 Stat. 2717; 
     50 U.S.C. 2302(1)), as amended by subsection (b).
       (b) Technical Correction.--Section 1403(1)(B) of the 
     Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996 
     (title XIV of Public Law 104-201; 110 Stat. 2717; 50 U.S.C. 
     2302(1)(B)) is amended by striking ``a disease organism'' and 
     inserting ``a biological agent, toxin, or vector (as those 
     terms are defined in section 178 of title 18, United States 
     Code)''.

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