[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 156 (Tuesday, September 27, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S5083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 5717. Mr. SCOTT of Florida submitted an amendment intended to be 
proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and 
Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 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 F of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1276. AFGHAN VETTING ACCOUNTABILITY.

       (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Afghan 
     Vetting Accountability Act of 2022''.
       (b) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The Office of the Inspector General of the Department 
     of Homeland Security conducted an audit, which included 
     meetings with more than 130 individuals from the Department 
     of Homeland Security, to determine the extent to which the 
     Department of Homeland Security screened, vetted, and 
     inspected evacuees arriving as part of Operation Allies 
     Refuge and Operation Allies Welcome.
       (2) In the report resulting from such audit, ``DHS 
     Encountered Obstacles to Screen, Vet, and Inspect All 
     Evacuees during the Recent Afghanistan Crisis'', which was 
     issued on September 6, 2022, the Inspector General of the 
     Department of Homeland Security found that--
       (A) ``[t]he United States welcomed more than 79,000 Afghan 
     evacuees between July 2021 and January 2022, as part of 
     [Operation Allies Refuge and Operation Allies Welcome]'';
       (B) ``[t]he President directed the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security to lead the coordination across the Federal 
     Government to resettle vulnerable Afghans arriving as part of 
     [Operation Allies Welcome]'';
       (C) ``[the Department of Homeland Security] encountered 
     obstacles to screen, vet, and inspect all Afghan evacuees 
     arriving as part of Operation Allies Refuge and Operation 
     Allies Welcome'';
       (D) ``U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not always 
     have critical data to properly screen, vet, or inspect the 
     evacuees'';
       (E) ``some information used to vet evacuees through U.S. 
     Government databases, such as name, date of birth, 
     identification number, and travel document data, was 
     inaccurate, incomplete, or missing''; and
       (F) ``[U.S. Customs and Border Protection] admitted or 
     paroled evacuees who were not fully vetted into the United 
     States''.
       (3) The Office of the Inspector General of the Department 
     of Homeland Security attributed the Department of Homeland 
     Security's challenges with respect to properly screening, 
     vetting, and inspecting such evacuees to not having--
       (A) a list of evacuees from Afghanistan who were unable to 
     provide sufficient identification documents;
       (B) a contingency plan to support similar emergency 
     situations; and
       (C) standardized policies.
       (4) As a result of such deficiencies, the Department of 
     Homeland Security may have admitted or paroled individuals 
     into the United States who pose a risk to the national 
     security of the United States and to the safety of local 
     communities.
       (c) Identification and Recurrent Vetting of Evacuees From 
     Afghanistan.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 
     Border Protection shall--
       (1) identify all evacuees from Afghanistan who--
       (A) were paroled into the United States during the period 
     beginning on July 14, 2021, and ending on February 19, 2022, 
     as part of Operation Allies Refuge or Operation Allies 
     Welcome; and
       (B) remain in the United States;
       (2) for each such Afghan evacuee, conduct a full screening 
     and vetting, including by consulting all law enforcement and 
     international terrorist screening databases, based on the 
     confirmed identity of the evacuee;
       (3) prioritize the screening and vetting described in 
     paragraph (2) for such evacuees who did not have 
     documentation of their identity on arrival in the United 
     States;
       (4) establish recurrent and periodic vetting processes for 
     all such evacuees, including in-person interviews, to the 
     extent necessary;
       (5) ensure that the vetting processes described in 
     paragraph (4) are carried out for each such evacuee for the 
     duration of the authorized period of parole of the evacuee; 
     and
       (6) submit evidence to the Director of National 
     Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 
     State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney 
     General, and the head of each State and local law enforcement 
     agency with jurisdiction over a place where an Afghan evacuee 
     resides that the full screening and vetting described in 
     paragraph (2) and the recurrent and periodic vetting 
     processes described in paragraph (4) have been carried out.
       (d) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the 
     Department of Homeland Security shall submit a report to the 
     Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of 
     the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
     House of Representatives that includes--
       (1) the findings and results of the rescreening and vetting 
     required under subsection (c); and
       (2) the number of Afghan evacuees who were determined to be 
     inadmissible to the United States.
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