[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 91 (Thursday, June 9, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3725-S3726]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4604. Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Reed, and Mr. 
McCain) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the 
bill S. 2943, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for 
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle B of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1216. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT STATUS FOR CERTAIN AFGHANS.

       (a) Prioritization of Applications by the Chief of 
     Mission.--Section 602(b)(2)(D)(i) of the Afghan Allies 
     Protection Act of 2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended by 
     adding at the end ``In processing applications under this 
     paragraph, the Chief of Mission shall prioritize, to the 
     maximum extent practicable, applications for those aliens who 
     have experienced or are experiencing an ongoing and credible 
     serious threat as a consequence of the alien's employment by 
     the United States Government.''.
       (b) Numerical Limitations.--Section 602(b)(3)(F) of such 
     Act is amended--
       (1) in the subparagraph heading, by striking ``and 2017'' 
     and inserting ``2017, and 2018'';
       (2) by striking ``December 31, 2016;'' each place it 
     appears and inserting ``December 31, 2017;''; and

[[Page S3726]]

       (3) in the matter preceding clause (i)--
       (A) by striking ``exhausted,,'' and inserting 
     ``exhausted,''; and
       (B) by striking ``7,000'' and inserting ``9,500''.
       (c) Report.--Section 602(b)(14) of such Act is amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
     ``Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this paragraph,'' and inserting ``Not later than December 31, 
     2016, and annually thereafter through January 31, 2021,''; 
     and
       (2) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ``under this 
     section;'' and inserting ``under subclause (I) or (II)(bb) of 
     paragraph (2)(A)(ii);''.
       (d) Plan to Bring Afghan SIV Program to a Responsible 
     End.--Section 602(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the 
     end the following:
       ``(17) Plan to bring afghan siv program to a responsible 
     end.--
       ``(A) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the 
     earlier of the date of the enactment of the National Defense 
     Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 or March 1, 2018, the 
     Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, in 
     consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 
     Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Commander of 
     United States Central Command, and the Commander Resolute 
     Support/United States Forces - Afghanistan, shall submit a 
     report to the appropriate committees of Congress that details 
     a strategy for bringing the program authorized under this 
     subsection to provide special immigrant status to certain 
     Afghans to a responsible end by or before December 31, 2018.
       ``(B) Content.--The report required under subparagraph (A) 
     shall--
       ``(i) identify the number of visas that would be required 
     to meet existing or reasonably projected commitments, taking 
     into account the need to support a continued United States 
     Government presence in Afghanistan;
       ``(ii) provide an estimate of how long such visas should 
     remain available;
       ``(iii) assess whether other existing programs would be 
     adequate to incentivize the continued recruitment, retention, 
     and protection of critical Afghan employees, after the 
     program authorized under this subsection expires; and
       ``(iv) describe potential alternative programs that could 
     be considered if existing programs are inadequate.''.
       (e) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the enactment of 
     this Act, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland 
     Security shall submit to Congress a report on the frequency, 
     duration, and reasons recipients of these visas from 
     Afghanistan travel back to Afghanistan.
                                 ______