[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 155 (Wednesday, December 5, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H6650-H6652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1030
CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO ABSENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES DUE TO
CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT BY CHIEF OF MISSION OR ARMED FORCES
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 6223) to amend section 1059(e) of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 to clarify that a period of
employment abroad by the Chief of Mission or United States Armed Forces
as a translator, interpreter, or in an executive level security
position is to be counted as a period of residence and physical
presence in the United States for purposes of qualifying for
naturalization if at least a portion of such period was spent in Iraq
or Afghanistan, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6223
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
[[Page H6651]]
SECTION 1. CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO ABSENCE FROM THE
UNITED STATES DUE TO CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT BY
CHIEF OF MISSION OR ARMED FORCES.
(a) In General.--Section 1059(e) of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note)
is amended to read as follows:
``(e) Naturalization.--
``(1) In general.--A period of absence from the United
States described in paragraph (2)--
``(A) shall not be considered to break any period for which
continuous residence or physical presence in the United
States is required for naturalization under title III of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.); and
``(B) shall be treated as a period of residence and
physical presence in the United States for purposes of
satisfying the requirements for naturalization under such
title.
``(2) Period of absence described.--A period of absence
described in this paragraph is a period of absence from the
United States due to a person's employment by the Chief of
Mission or United States Armed Forces, under contract with
the Chief of Mission or United States Armed Forces, or by a
firm or corporation under contract with the Chief of Mission
or United States Armed Forces, if--
``(A) such employment involved supporting the Chief of
Mission or United States Armed Forces as a translator,
interpreter, or in a security-related position in an
executive or managerial capacity; and
``(B) the person spent at least a portion of the time
outside the United States working directly with the Chief of
Mission or United States Armed Forces as a translator,
interpreter, or in a security-related position in an
executive or managerial capacity.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall take effect as if included in the enactment of section
1059(e) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 6223, as
amended, currently under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I support this bill and thank Representative Dent for
introducing it.
Many men and women put their lives at risk to serve our nation with
the Department of State in U.S. Embassies abroad. They contribute
directly to the security of our country.
As we have become aware, conflicts from across the globe affect these
employees in countries such as Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, Israel, and most
recently, Libya. Our embassies have been attacked. Our flags have been
burned. And our ambassador to Libya and three other Americans have been
murdered.
Regrettably, service to the United States in our embassies abroad
often occurs under dangerous conditions and in threatening
environments.
The work of our foreign officers and agents assures us that we are
kept safe each and every day. We are fortunate to have men and women
willing to sacrifice and serve in the embassies. These individuals
often accept posts on the front lines overseas as they serve to defend
our freedoms. And for that we are grateful.
To ensure that our nation has the tools and resources it needs, such
as linguistic expertise or knowledge of a specific geographic area,
legal permanent residents serve the United States in critical
capacities in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world.
Unfortunately, their loyalty, dedication and success can come at a
price if they intend on naturalizing and becoming a United States
citizen.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, an applicant for
naturalization must be a lawfully admitted permanent resident for at
least five years, have continuous residence in the U.S. during that
time and be physically present in the U.S. for at least half of that
five year period.
Continuous residence is the time that the applicant has maintained
official residence within the United States. Physical presence is the
time the applicant has been actually and physically located in the
United States.
A permanent resident may become ineligible to naturalize because they
have not been ``physically present and residing in the United States,
after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, for an
uninterrupted period of at least one year.''
Any departure from the United States prevents the establishment of
``an uninterrupted period of one year'' after lawful admission for
permanent residence.
This means that a legal permanent resident who is serving in our
embassies overseas cannot qualify for naturalization.
This bill resolves this issue. It allows legal permanent residents'
time in embassies abroad to count towards both the ``continuous
residence'' requirement and the ``physical presence'' requirement for
naturalization.
This is a common sense change that brings certain national security
professionals in our embassies abroad in line with their military
counterparts. Military service members' time overseas currently counts
towards physical presence.
Like their military colleagues, senior and managerial legal permanent
residents who serve in embassies, regardless of duration, are now
regarded as being legally physically present in the U.S. during the
period they serve the Department of State.
Additionally, under current law, a person who provides translator or
interpreter services to the U.S. Armed Forces or the Chief of Mission
in Iraq or Afghanistan can count that period of absence from the United
States toward the ``continuous residence.'' However, that time does not
count towards the one year continuous physical presence requirement for
naturalization.
This bill allows people who work in a security-related position in an
executive or managerial capacity for the Armed Forces and Chief of
Mission to benefit in the same way as people who work as interpreters
or translators.
It also permits interpreters and translators who serve the Armed
forces or Chief of Mission in places other than Iraq or Afghanistan to
receive this benefit.
I again thank Mr. Dent for his work on this bill as it honors the
legal permanent residents who serve our nation abroad and facilitates
their path to citizenship. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
I, again, just want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Dent) for sponsoring this bill, and I yield him the balance of my time.
Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to rise in support of H.R.
6223, a bill I introduced earlier this year as well as in the 111th
Congress.
I would especially like to thank Chairman Lamar Smith for his service
as chairman of this committee for the past 2 years. He has been a great
leader, and I will miss him as chairman. I just wanted to thank him for
his help with this legislation, as well as his staff, Dimple Shah and
others, Kristin Dini from my own office. I wanted to thank them all for
their support and help with this measure. They have taken a lot of time
to understand the difficulty the current policy poses to highly skilled
and committed men and women serving in some of the most volatile
regions of the world.
As the chairman briefly described, H.R. 6223 would amend current law
to allow legal permanent residents working for the chief of mission in
an interpreter, translator, or in an executive or managerial security-
related position overseas to count their time of service toward the
continuous residence and physical presence requirement for
naturalization as a United States citizen.
While this change is seemingly minor in the grand scheme of
immigration policy, it is one that should be addressed by Congress--if
for no other reason than to recognize the critical contribution these
men and women are making for our country in the war against terrorism
in unstable regions across the globe.
Quite candidly and truthfully, I didn't give much thought to this
issue until a few years ago when I was made aware of the selfless and
highly skilled service being provided by a constituent and legal
permanent resident from Pennsylvania, George Bou Jaoudeh, who happens
to be a Lebanese national working with the State Department security
overseas in Iraq since 2005.
Mr. Bou Jaoudeh spends 4 months in Iraq and then 20 days in the
United States. As a green card holder with a desire to naturalize as a
U.S. citizen, he has been unable to meet continuous residency and
physical presence requirements because of his time working abroad in
support of our country in a very dangerous place, I think we would all
agree.
Consequently, even though he works inside the American embassy in
Baghdad, George Bou Jaoudeh has not met his 1-year continuous residency
requirement, which is absurd because he is serving our Nation on
American territory in the embassy. It's a shame
[[Page H6652]]
that we have to use legislation to address this, but that's the
situation we find ourselves in.
In September, the world watched as a violent raid on our embassy in
Benghazi, Libya, took the life of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three
other brave Americans, two of whom have served as diplomatic security
officers. Committed to serving our Nation, these men gave their lives
to provide security for American diplomats in an unstable country,
struggling in the midst of historic change.
There is a real enemy working to, at the very least, threaten
American ideals and our way of life. Let's ensure the policies shaping
our immigration laws do not create a greater hindrance to us in this
fight.
With this bill under consideration today, we have the opportunity to
recognize the legal permanent residents who have proven their
commitment to our Nation's ideals and missions, should they be working
with the State Department as executive-level security personnel,
interpreter, or translator, regarding their continuous residence and
physical presence requirements.
I ask the House to support this commonsense, reasonable legislation
to make sure that we recognize individuals who are serving our country,
legal residents who are serving in very dangerous places, serving in
our State Department, that they be given the recognition they deserve
and a proper pathway to citizenship.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6223, a bill that would expand
upon a small, but important provision in our immigration laws and
alleviate one barrier often faced by certain persons applying for
naturalization.
Under our immigration laws, a lawful permanent resident who is
applying to become a U.S. citizen generally must reside continuously in
the United States for 5 years. Persons who are naturalizing by virtue
of their marriage to a U.S. citizen or battered spouses or children may
naturalize after a 3-year period of residence. A person must also be
physically present in the United States for at least one-half of that
time.
In 2007, Congress enacted a law to ensure that when a person works as
an interpreter or translator in Iraq or Afghanistan for the U.S. chief
of mission or the Armed Forces--either directly or by contract--that
time should count toward the ``continuous residence'' requirement for
naturalization.
This makes sense. Why should we penalize a lawful permanent resident
for choosing to provide critical translation or interpretative services
in Iraq or Afghanistan by saying that the person failed to reside
continuously in the United States?
Today's bill builds on that commonsense provision in law in three
ways:
First, it eliminates the geographical restriction in current law and
says that time spent providing qualifying services to the U.S. chief of
mission or Armed Forces anywhere in the world should be considered for
naturalization purposes. Lawful permanent residents provide important
services to our government all around the world, and it makes little
sense to limit the provision only to service in those two countries.
Second, the current law applies only to the work of translators or
interpreters, but lawful permanent residents assist our chiefs of
mission and Armed Forces in a variety of important ways. To the current
list of qualifying jobs, this bill adds certain high-level security-
related work.
Finally, although the provision in current law only allows the time
abroad not to count as a break in the ``continuous residence''
requirement for naturalization, this bill would allow the time also to
count toward the ``physical presence'' requirement.
I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his work on the bill. I
urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 6223, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend section
1059(e) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006
to clarify that a period of employment abroad by the Chief of Mission
or United States Armed Forces as a translator, interpreter, or in a
security-related position in an executive or managerial capacity is to
be counted as a period of residence and physical presence in the United
States for purposes of qualifying for naturalization, and for other
purposes.''
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________