[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 30, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H7070-H7074]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             EXTENSION OF AFGHAN SPECIAL IMMIGRANT PROGRAM

  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill

[[Page H7071]]

(H.R. 5195) to provide additional visas for the Afghan Special 
Immigrant Visa Program, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5195

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

     SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF AFGHAN SPECIAL IMMIGRANT PROGRAM.

       Section 602(b)(3) of the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 
     2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(E) Special rule for end of calendar year 2014.--
       ``(i) In general.--During the period beginning on the date 
     of the enactment of this subparagraph and ending on December 
     31, 2014, an additional 1,000 principal aliens may be 
     provided special immigrant status under this section. For 
     purposes of status provided under this subparagraph--

       ``(I) the period during which an alien must have been 
     employed in accordance with paragraph (2)(A)(ii) must 
     terminate on or before December 31, 2014;
       ``(II) the principal alien seeking special immigrant status 
     under this subparagraph shall apply to the Chief of Mission 
     in accordance with paragraph (2)(D) not later than December 
     31, 2014; and
       ``(III) the authority to provide such status shall 
     terminate on December 31, 2014.

       ``(ii) Construction.--Clause (i) shall not be construed to 
     affect the authority, numerical limitations, or terms for 
     provision of status, under subparagraph (D).''.

     SEC. 2. TEMPORARY FEE INCREASE FOR CERTAIN CONSULAR SERVICES.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, the Secretary of State, not later than January 1, 2015, 
     shall increase the fee or surcharge authorized under section 
     140(a) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 
     Years 1994 and 1995 (Public Law 103-236; 8 U.S.C. 1351 note) 
     by $1.00 for processing machine-readable nonimmigrant visas 
     and machine-readable combined border crossing identification 
     cards and nonimmigrant visas.
       (b) Deposit of Amounts.--Notwithstanding section 140(a)(2) 
     of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 
     and 1995 (Public Law 103-236; 8 U.S.C. 1351 note), the 
     additional amount collected pursuant the fee increase 
     authorized under subsection (a) shall be deposited in the 
     general fund of the Treasury.
       (c) Sunset Provision.--The fee increase authorized under 
     subsection (a) shall terminate on the date that is 5.5 years 
     after the first date on which such increased fee is 
     collected.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Holding) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Lofgren) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.


                             General Leave

  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous materials on H.R. 5195, currently under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5195 makes available through the end of calendar 
year 2014 1,000 visas for the Special Immigrant Visa program created by 
the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009. The 1,000 visas are in 
addition to 3,000 that Congress already allocated for fiscal year 2014.
  The main eligibility requirement, Mr. Speaker, to receive a Special 
Immigrant Visa under this program is that the Afghan principal 
applicant must have worked for or on behalf of the U.S. Government for 
at least 1 year in Afghanistan.
  The State Department has indicated that it will issue all 3,000 of 
their originally allocated visas by the beginning of August, and the 
Department currently has around 300 approved applications simply 
waiting for additional visas to be allocated. That number will rise as 
State continues to process applications over the next few months.
  We must remember that simply because a visa cap is reached does not 
mean that Congress must automatically allocate additional visas. In 
fact, Congress rarely does so in immigration programs.
  I understand that proponents of this legislation claim that 
individuals waiting on a visa are in harm's way due to their work for 
the United States Government and the drawdown of U.S. forces in the 
region, but as with any immigration program, Mr. Speaker, we must also 
be cognizant of our duty to ensure the safety and security of the 
United States by making sure that anyone issued a visa is not a threat 
to our public safety or national security.
  So when there are calls for this program to be extended once again 
before the balance of fiscal year 2015, the Judiciary Committee will be 
conducting oversight over the program. Such oversight will allow us to 
make educated decisions on how many, if any, special immigrant visas 
should be allocated for fiscal year 15.
  I look forward to that oversight and urge my colleagues to support 
this bill that we have under consideration. I reserve the balance of my 
time.

                                         House of Representatives,


                                 Committee on Foreign Affairs,

                                    Washington, DC, July 29, 2014.
     Hon. Bob Goodlatte,
     Chairman, House Committee on the Judiciary,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for your consultation with the 
     Foreign Affairs Committee on H.R. 5195, a bill to provide 
     additional visas for the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa 
     Program, which involves the legislative jurisdiction of the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs under House Rule X. As a result 
     of those consultations, I agree that the Foreign Affairs 
     Committee may be discharged from further consideration of 
     that bill, so that it may proceed expeditiously to the House 
     floor.
       I am writing to confirm our mutual understanding that, by 
     forgoing consideration of H.R. 5195, the Foreign Affairs 
     Committee does not waive jurisdiction over the subject matter 
     contained in this, or any other, legislation. Our Committee 
     also reserves the right to seek an appropriate number of 
     conferees to any House-Senate conference involving this bill, 
     and would appreciate your support for any such request.
       I ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter 
     be included in the Congressional Record during floor 
     consideration of H.R. 5195.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Edward R. Royce,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                                   Committee on the Judiciary,

                                    Washington, DC, July 30, 2014.
     Hon. Ed Royce,
     Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Royce, Thank you for your letter regarding 
     H.R. 5195, a bill to provide additional visas for the Afghan 
     Special Immigrant Visa Program
       It is my understanding that the Committee on Foreign 
     Affairs has Rule X jurisdiction over portions of H.R. 5195. I 
     am, therefore, most appreciative of your decision to forego 
     consideration of the bill so that it may move expeditiously 
     to the House floor. I acknowledge that although you are 
     waiving formal consideration of the bill, the Committee on 
     Foreign Affairs is in no way waiving its jurisdiction over 
     the subject matter contained in the bill. In addition, if a 
     conference is necessary on this legislation, I will support 
     any request that your committee be represented therein.
       Finally, I am pleased to include your letter and this reply 
     letter memorializing our mutual understanding in the 
     Congressional Record during floor consideration of H.R. 5195.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Bob Goodlatte,
                                                         Chairman.

  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5195 accomplishes the important goal of allowing 
these additional 1,000 Afghan Special Immigrant Visas to be issued 
before the end of the calendar year.
  As has been mentioned, this program was established in 2009 to 
protect Afghan nationals who were placed in grave danger because they 
were employed by or assisted the United States Government. Having 
benefited greatly from their faithful service, Members on both sides of 
the aisle recognized that we owed a debt of gratitude. We owed these 
people and their family members the opportunity to live safely and 
freely.
  The Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program has not been without its 
problems. Many of us have come together over the years to complain that 
the process for issuing the visas was too slow and cumbersome.
  Mr. Speaker, from the start of the program through fiscal year 2012, 
only 1,051 of the 8,500 visas authorized by statute had actually been 
issued to deserving Afghan nationals. In October of 2012, The 
Washington Post reported that more than 5,000 Afghan Special Immigrant 
Visa applications were sitting in a backlog waiting to be adjudicated.

[[Page H7072]]

  Secretary Kerry recently stated that because of ``unconscionably long 
processing times for applicants, some deserving people were simply 
falling through the cracks.''
  Now, recently, the program has undergone major improvements. In this 
fiscal year alone, the State Department has issued more Afghan Special 
Immigrant Visas than in all previous years combined. The process is now 
moving swiftly enough that we are coming right up against the cap of 
3,000 visas that we set earlier this year in the approps act.
  That is where this bill comes in. By making these visas available to 
Afghan nationals who are facing danger precisely because they provided 
service to our country, to America, this bill will help ensure that we 
stand by our commitment to protect those who helped to protect us.
  I think it is worth noting that keeping our commitment to these 
people--the large majority of whom acted as our translators in the 
field--is not merely a good in and of itself. It is important that the 
United States stands by its commitment here because we ultimately have 
to work collaboratively with people all over the globe.
  We must ensure that the message we send through our actions is that 
we honor those who take great personal risks to assist our men and 
women serving overseas and we do not forget what they do.
  Mr. Speaker, I support today's bill. I hope to work with my 
colleagues to support future extensions of this program, if necessary. 
I urge my colleagues to also support this important measure, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, with pleasure I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kinzinger), a champion on this issue.
  Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank 
Chairman Goodlatte for helping to bring this to the floor very quickly, 
also to the Majority Leader-elect Kevin McCarthy for his hard work and 
also to my good friend on the other side of the aisle, Representative 
Blumenauer, who has had a passion for this program since even before I 
got here.
  Mr. Speaker, at a time when we just get debating a lot of tough 
things, it is great to see times when Republicans and Democrats can 
come together and do things for those that fight hard on behalf of our 
country and on behalf of theirs.
  The Special Immigrant Visa program was designed to provide safe 
refuge to the countless brave Afghan men and women who willingly put 
their lives on the line and served shoulder to shoulder with our 
servicemembers in Operation Enduring Freedom.
  This program is critical to our national security and to our 
servicemembers and veterans in any future engagement that will likely 
come at some point in the future.
  The SIV programs provide lifesaving protections to those who served 
in U.S. missions and now are in danger as a result at the end of that 
service. The Taliban are hunting these people down as we speak here 
today.
  Because it is in our national security interest to keep these 
promises and protect our allies and simply because it is the right 
thing to do, I want you to think about for a second: In a time of war, 
what can American soldiers and American marines, airmen, and sailors do 
in order to communicate with the local population and to get them on 
our side versus a very tough and determined enemy? Of course, the basic 
thing to that is to be able to speak to the local population.
  So you think about, in many cases, these young men and women--these 
translators that, in some cases, wouldn't even put on anything to 
obscure their face and would stand side by side with American soldiers 
against Taliban in very tough areas, many of them, now as America 
withdraws its mission from Afghanistan and winds down its mission, now 
find themselves under threat every day.
  Whether we agree or we disagree with the war in Afghanistan and 
anything like that, the reality of it is this: we all can agree that 
those that were willing to stand by us and to stand against this very, 
very bad enemy well deserve to come here.

                              {time}  1415

  We of course want to ensure that we are going through the proper 
process, and I want to commend the State Department for recently 
improving their ability to process these applicants and to do so 
correctly and safely. But I also would remind folks that when we talk 
about the United States of America and who do we want here, people who 
are willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers and defend 
our cause and defend their cause are the ones we would like to see in 
the United States of America enjoying their freedom as well.
  I mentioned earlier the threats that these people live under. It is 
estimated that multiple people are being killed every day who engaged 
in this kind of effort on behalf of the United States. So I want to 
commend everybody in this body for standing together to say that we 
need to stand with those who stood with us.
  Recently there was a very interesting news special that talked about 
the reality of what was going on, and it interviewed a lot of these 
translators. Something that struck me the most was somebody who had 
been denied a visa, or at least it had taken a very long time to get, 
but he still had faith.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. HOLDING. I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman.
  Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois. He stood up and said that he had faith 
that he was going to make it to the United States of America because 
the United States of America came to his country to help them, and he 
knows that the United States of America will do the right thing. It is 
inspiring to see that kind of belief in our country that we have, but 
to see it shared by people in war-torn areas.
  So again to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, thank you. 
Representative Blumenauer, thank you for your friendship and your hard 
work.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Moran).
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from California for 
yielding me the time to add my voice to this bill which addresses an 
issue of national security and affirms our moral commitment to those 
who have risked their lives on our behalf.
  I especially want to give a shout-out to Mr. Blumenauer and Mr. 
Kinzinger for their diligence in getting this measure to the floor.
  During our war in Afghanistan, our forces have been assisted ably and 
loyally by some Afghan nationals who have been essential to the mission 
and the lives of our military, especially Afghan interpreters. Now that 
we are leaving Afghanistan, these brave partners and their families 
face a mortal threat from the Taliban. They are relying on us to uphold 
our commitment to return their loyalty--and now that time has come--by 
allowing them to relocate to the United States.
  This Special Immigrant Visa category recognizes the extraordinary 
debt we owe these partners. As Ms. Lofgren mentioned, for a number of 
years, that category suffered from administrative neglect, and the visa 
process was hardly functional. In the past year, though, important 
improvements have been made to the processing system and many more of 
our Afghan allies are being admitted to the United States.
  Among them is Janis Shinwari, who served a translator alongside U.S. 
troops and saved the life of U.S. Army Captain Matt Zeller, with whom 
he now has a lifelong bond. Janis is now a member of my staff in my 
district office in Alexandria, Virginia. He continues to hear the 
desperate stories of his fellow translators who are in great peril and 
desperately seek to leave Afghanistan. Unfortunately, there are no 
visas left for the many deserving Afghans who are still in this 
administrative limbo. In fact, State estimates that we will hit the 
statutory cap on visas this summer with thousands of applications still 
outstanding.
  The 1,000 visas authorized under this emergency measure are 
necessary. This bill is critical, but it does not represent the end of 
our responsibility on this issue.
  I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to ensure 
that an appropriate number of visas are authorized for 2015. We have to 
stand by our friends and ensure that those who

[[Page H7073]]

have the courage to work with us in future conflicts know that they 
will not be abandoned.
  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I yield 2 minutes 
to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton).
  Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the Emergency Afghan 
Allies Extension Act, which would add 1,000 new visas for Afghans who 
served American troops.
  This program was designed to provide safe refuge to the many Afghans 
who put their lives on the line and served with our troops in support 
of Operation Enduring Freedom. I served personally with several Afghans 
who literally bled for us and who still aspire to immigrate to America 
in conformity with our laws--exactly the kind of immigrants which we 
welcome.
  This program is also critical to our national security and to our 
troops who, in the future, will again serve around the world and need 
support from local nationals. If we don't stand with these brave 
Afghans now, how will our troops in the future get the support they 
need?
  Indeed, many Afghans who served with American forces are now hunted 
by the Taliban and other terrorist groups. Adding a thousand visas this 
year may be the difference between life and death for some of these 
brave Afghans, particularly as America withdraws our troops from that 
country.
  Friends, colleagues, I urge you to support this bill because it is in 
our national security interests to keep our promises and protect our 
allies, and it is the right thing to do.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 4 minutes to the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), the author of this bill, who 
has been a tremendous advocate to make sure that America does the right 
thing.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman's courtesy 
and her leadership in working with us on this challenging problem.
  Mr. Speaker, in a way this represents an amazing, positive 
development. I have been working in this area for 10 years, dealing 
with the plight of the foreign nationals that too often America was at 
risk of leaving behind. But in the course of our work, what has been 
celebrated here is that actually the challenge today is the result of 
the administration listening to Congress and improving a system that 
was fatally flawed--there is no polite way around it--but they have 
worked hard to improve it. As a result, the visas we have granted have 
expired. They are gone now. There are no more to be issued. These 
additional 1,000 visas are critical to be able to get us through this 
gap.
  It is, Mr. Speaker, I think, testimony to the fact that people here 
in Congress can cross party lines, can work together cooperatively on 
problems where we are focused. I appreciate the kind words of my 
friend, Congressman Kinzinger. We wouldn't be where we are right now 
without him, his focus and his commitment.
  I should probably talk about his staff, Michael Essington and Zach 
Hunter.
  There are a list of people who are heroes in this fight that I hope 
we can spend a moment or two acknowledging because we did get 
cooperation from Majority Leader McCarthy, his security adviser, Emily 
Murry.
  Chairman Goodlatte, who has returned to this on numerous occasions, 
we wouldn't be here without him.
  Leader Cantor and his staff, particularly Robert Story Karem, who 
helped us navigate a similar crisis for the Iraq program last fall.
  Our whip, Steny Hoyer, and his policy members, Daniel Silverberg and 
Tom Mahr, were there. At times when there is a lot going on, there is a 
lot of controversy, there are competing interests, but they kept their 
eye on the ball to move this forward.
  We have got some critical people in the outside world, the NGOs, 
particularly the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, and their gurus, 
Becca Heller and Katie Reisner, who helped provide the details, the 
push.
  And I have to admit that there is a champion in my office, my 
legislative director, Michael Harold, who is as responsible as any one 
single person who just would not give up, late nights, early mornings, 
weekends, dealing with things that none of us want to know that 
happened behind the scenes. But the point is that we are here.
  I am hopeful that this signals not just a new era in terms of our 
being able to get past this, but that we take a comprehensive look at 
the Afghans and the Iraqis that are left behind because we are facing 
additional deadlines, and we shouldn't have to go through this on a 
repeated basis. It takes time that could be better spent more 
appropriately.
  I am confident, at the end, we will do the right thing, but we 
shouldn't go down to the deadline. We shouldn't create doubt in the 
minds of people who are waiting desperately, who are trying to evade 
the tender mercies of the Taliban and al Qaeda, who have long memories 
and who have hunted these people down. They have captured them and they 
have killed their siblings. They have tortured them, beheaded them. 
That is not a fate that they deserve.
  I was at the National Airport when Janis Shinwari and Captain Matt 
Zeller were united, and it is a moment I will never forget. But our 
moving forward now with this legislation and committing ourselves to 
the big picture, doing it right on a cooperative basis, means that it 
will make the difference of life or death for thousands of others that 
are waiting in this pipeline, and it will make all of us feel better as 
we conclude this summer session that we are doing it on a note of the 
sort of thing that we should do, how we should do it, and why we should 
do it.
  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Gabbard), who has herself served our 
country in the armed services.
  Ms. GABBARD. Mr. Speaker, it is a proud moment that we are witnessing 
here today as we see a bipartisan team of leaders here in Congress who 
have so passionately been committed to this issue, taking action and 
finding a solution, not in an ideal way in this crunch time, but 
nonetheless finding a solution that will change people's lives.
  When I first joined the military, one of the first lessons drilled 
into us as young privates by our drill instructors was the importance 
of teamwork, that we cannot be successful as individuals and how 
crucial it is for us to work as members of a team towards that singular 
mission. One team, one fight.
  These Afghan interpreters and their families put their lives on the 
line right alongside our troops, not carrying arms, not carrying 
ammunition to defend themselves, but placing their lives in the hands 
of our servicemembers as they worked together to complete that mission. 
Through that sacrifice, they became a member of our team. They felt 
pain with our losses, and they felt victorious in our successes.
  The very least that we can do is to take this small step and honor 
our commitment to our team members by passing H.R. 5195. This is one 
step towards keeping our promise and just beginning to repay the debt 
to these Afghan people who have served and sacrificed alongside us.
  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy).
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from 
California for allowing me a chance to share some words today, and I 
thank her for her leadership on this issue.
  To my colleagues Mr. Kinzinger and Mr. Blumenauer, thank you for your 
continued leadership on this issue and many others. It has been through 
your persistence and perseverance that this day comes, and you deserve 
quite a bit of gratitude and recognition for your work.
  Throughout the war in Afghanistan, U.S. servicemen and -women worked 
alongside thousands of Afghan partners who were employed as 
translators, as drivers, as cooks, as NGO staff, cultural advisers, and 
janitors. These Afghans risked their lives on a daily basis to come to 
work. They faced the very same violence, attacks, and threats as U.S. 
troops, but bravely put themselves in harm's way to aid in our shared 
mission.
  As has frequently been the case in the past, when the United States 
began

[[Page H7074]]

to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, Congress created a Special 
Immigrant Visa program open to foreign nationals who served in critical 
roles and supported the American war effort. To date, more than 9,000 
Afghans have benefited from the Special Immigrant Visa program. I am 
pleased to hear that the State Department has accelerated the 
processing time for these special visas in recent months, especially 
since there are over 6,000 still in the pipeline. However, as a result 
of this progress, the State Department is quickly running out of visas 
previously authorized by Congress.
  The bill before us today will authorize 1,000 visas for the remainder 
of 2014 so that the State Department can continue processing 
applications for Afghan men and women who assumed enormous risks to aid 
our troops. Most importantly, this bill sends a message that the United 
States is a loyal partner, that we keep our word and we honor our 
promises, that we stand with those who stand with us in an ongoing 
fight for a fairer, freer world.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers.
  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Kinzinger), and then I am prepared to close.

                              {time}  1430

  Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding again.
  I won't take much time, except to say it is very inspiring--as I 
think it is important to note when it happens--to see both sides of the 
aisle talking about such a very important issue.
  I think it is important to note that when we exit the shores of the 
United States, Americans stand together with those that stood with us.
  This is going to be a very important message to our current allies, 
and, again, something that is important to understand, as we all know, 
as history repeats itself, that at some point into the future, and we 
hope it is far out into the future, America will find itself engaged in 
something similar again where we need the indigenous population to help 
us to give them freedom and to defeat evil terrorism, or whatever it 
may be at the time. This is a message that we are sending to future 
conflicts that we will stand with you.
  This is also going to, Mr. Speaker, save the lives of American 
soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors in the future, as they have 
somebody that can help them to communicate with the local population 
and win the trust.
  Again, for everybody involved, I want to just once again say thank 
you.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I will just thank all of the people who worked so hard on this, 
certainly on both sides of the aisle, and, most especially, Mr. 
Blumenauer, who has just been ceaseless in his efforts to make sure 
that these translators were not left behind and not forgotten.
  A note on the future: I am happy to support this bill for 1,000 visas 
today. However, it is reported that there are 5,000 translators 
backlogged. Now, we don't know, in that 5,000, some may have been 
murdered already, some may have given up, or some may have gone 
elsewhere. We don't know that we are going to need an additional number 
of visas, but we need to open our hearts in the same spirit of 
bipartisanship that if we fall short, we are going to have to come 
together as a country. Because we all know, not only is this the right 
thing to do morally, but for our troops in the field it is essential.
  People have to know in other countries that if they step forward to 
assist the United States, the United States will honor its promises to 
them.
  That is why this bill is so important, not only for what it does, but 
what it stands for, and why I urge its adoption.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  In closing, this is an important piece of bipartisan legislation. The 
Afghans, who benefit by this legislation, put their lives on the line 
for the United States of America. We owe them a debt of gratitude.
  I look forward in the coming Congress to doing oversight to look at 
the further backlog of Afghans who may be eligible for visas, and look 
through oversight how this program is being administered and ensure 
that we are able to fulfill the promises that we have made to Afghans 
who have helped us in the field.
  I encourage my colleagues to vote for this important piece of 
legislation.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Holding) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5195, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________