[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 68 (Monday, April 28, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3449-S3450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MAKING TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT OF
2008
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2829
and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk
will report the bill by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 2829) to make technical corrections to section
1244 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2008, which provides special immigrant status for
certain Iraqis, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join the bipartisan group
of Senators on this bill who all recognize our obligation to help those
Iraqis who have assisted the United States in Iraq. This legislation
will remove obstacles encountered by the Departments of
[[Page S3450]]
State and Homeland Security in issuing the 5,000 special visas that
Congress authorized in January for those Iraqi citizens.
As part of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress
provided 5,000 special immigrant visas for Iraqis who had aided the
United States as interpreters in the country. As chairman of the
Judiciary Committee, I have supported these efforts. The Departments of
State and Homeland Security seem stymied and unable to implement what
Congress has provided. In our efforts to remove any impediment to fast
implementation and address any excuse for further delays, we seek
passage of this bill as well, to cut through bureaucratic stalling and
technical requirements.
This administration has been woefully slow in recognizing its
responsibilities not only to those Iraqis who have helped us, but to
all Iraqis who have been displaced or have fled the violence still
plaguing that country. The relative inaction by the administration with
respect to those Iraqis whose lives are in grave danger due to their
assistance of the United States is especially troubling. Action is
needed now. The Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on this
humanitarian problem more than 15 months ago. That hearing on the
plight of Iraqi refugees was among our first, in January 2007. In the
interim, the administration has continued to make promises it cannot,
or will not keep with respect to the resettlement of Iraqi refugees in
the United States.
The administration's failure to acknowledge the Iraqi refugee crisis
is emblematic of its inability to address other serious human rights
issues that are much of its own making. The injustice resulting from
the administration's interpretation of the material support and
terrorism related bars that were enacted following September 11, 2001,
continues to deprive legitimate asylum seekers of our protection. The
consequences of these laws continue to go unaddressed, despite the fact
that Congress has now twice given the Department of Homeland Security
the authority to alleviate the situation. While Secretary Chertoff is
unwilling to use this authority to provide asylum to those who need our
protection, he has repeatedly used the vast authority ceded to him by
proponents of the REAL ID Act to waive landmark environmental laws in
the course of constructing a border wall between the United States and
Mexico.
This month, during the Judiciary Committee's oversight hearing on the
Department of Homeland Security, I followed up by asking Secretary
Chertoff about his Department's lack of progress on implementing the
authority Congress has given to him to remedy the material support and
terrorism bars. At that time, I challenged him to fulfill the goal of
legislation I authored and Congress enacted to provide relief to
individuals such as Saman Kareem Ahmad, who received a commendation
from General Petreaus for his work on behalf of the United States in
Iraq and instructs U.S military personnel in preparation for service in
Iraq. Although Mr. Ahmad was granted asylum, his application for a
green card was denied because the organization with which he had once
served, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, was deemed a ``terrorist
organization'' by DHS. I urged Secretary Chertoff to use the authority
he has been given to ensure that individuals like Mr. Ahmad were not
denied a place in the United States because of inflexible and expansive
readings of the so-called ``material support'' bar. I hope the
administration takes the opportunity Congress has given it to correct
this wrongheaded policy and practice. It is long past the time for this
administration to take action and acknowledge the severe humanitarian
consequences of its policies, whether in Iraq, or at our shores where
the persecuted are seeking refuge.
Providing for the safety of our Iraqi allies is only one aspect of an
increasingly severe humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Refugees International
recently reported that in the vacuum left by the failure of the Iraqi
government to address the plight of millions of its internally
displaced citizens, various non-state militias are providing assistance
to those who are suffering. By the report's account, these militias are
finding fertile ground for recruiting among this population, with the
Shiite Sadrist movement now being the ``main service provider'' to
displaced Iraqis. We have been pressing the administration for some
time to acknowledge this crisis and to make increased efforts to assist
those Iraqis who have been internally displaced or who have left the
country. Now we learn that the dangers associated with the
administration's failure to recognize the magnitude of this crisis go
beyond the terrible human cost that has resulted and threaten to
undermine any efforts to bring positive change to Iraq.
The bill the Senate approves today will be another effort to
encourage this administration to fulfill its obligations to those who
have sacrificed significantly to assist the United States. It is my
hope that this will end the unacceptable delays and provide long
overdue relief.
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill
be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon
the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any
statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (S. 2829) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading,
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 2829
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO PROVISION GRANTING
SPECIAL IMMIGRANT STATUS FOR CERTAIN IRAQIS.
Section 1244(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``each of the five years
beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act'' and
inserting ``fiscal years 2008 through 2012''; and
(2) in paragraph (3)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) in the subparagraph heading, by striking ``one through
four'' and inserting ``2008 through 2011''; and
(ii) by striking ``one through four'' and inserting ``2008
through 2011''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i)--
(I) in the subparagraph heading, by striking ``five and
six'' and inserting ``2012 and 2013'';
(II) by striking ``the fifth fiscal year beginning after
the date of the enactment of this Act'' and inserting
``fiscal year 2012''; and
(III) by striking ``the sixth fiscal year beginning after
such date'' and inserting ``fiscal year 2013''; and
(ii) in each of clauses (i) and (ii), by striking ``the
fifth fiscal year'' and inserting ``fiscal year 2012''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO CONVERT PETITIONS DURING TRANSITION
PERIOD.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Homeland Security or the
Secretary of State may convert an approved petition for
special immigrant status under section 1059 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1101
note) with respect to which a visa under such section 1059 is
not immediately available to an approved petition for special
immigrant status under section 1244 of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181)
notwithstanding any requirement of subsection (a) or (b) of
such section 1244 but subject to the numerical limitations
applicable under subsection (c) of such section 1244, as
amended by this Act.
(b) Duration.--The authority under subsection (a) shall be
available only with respect to petitions filed before October
1, 2008.
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