[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 199 (Wednesday, December 21, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H9925-H9927]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ENERGY SECURITY AND LIGHTERING INDEPENDENCE ACT OF 2022
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (S. 5168) to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to include
aliens passing in transit through the United States to board a vessel
on which the alien will perform ship-to-ship liquid cargo transfer
operations within a class of nonimmigrant aliens, and for other
purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 5168
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Energy Security and
Lightering Independence Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. CHANGES IN NONIMMIGRANT CATEGORIES.
(a) Transit Through United States.--Section 101(a)(15)(C)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(15)(C)) is amended to read as follows:
``(C)(i) an alien in immediate and continuous transit
through the United States, for a period not to exceed 29
days;
``(ii) an alien who qualifies as a person entitled to pass
in transit to and from the United Nations Headquarters
District (as defined in section 209A(e) of the State
Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C.
4309a(e))) and foreign countries, under the provisions of
paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of section 11 of the Agreement
regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, done at
Lake Success June 26, 1947 (61 Stat. 758); or
``(iii) an alien passing in transit through the United
States to board a vessel on which the alien will perform, or
to disembark from a vessel on which the alien performed,
ship-to-ship liquid cargo transfer operations to or from
another vessel engaged in foreign trade, for a period not to
exceed 180 days;''.
(b) Alien Crewmen.--Section 101(a)(15)(D) of such Act (8
U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(D)) is amended--
(1) in clause (ii), by adding ``or'' at the end; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) an alien crewman performing ship-to-ship liquid
cargo transfer operations to or from another vessel engaged
in foreign trade, who intends to land temporarily solely in
pursuit of the alien's responsibilities as a crewman and to
depart from the United States on the vessel on which the
alien arrived or on another vessel or aircraft, for a period
not to exceed 180 days;''.
SEC. 3. CONDITIONAL PERMITS TO LAND TEMPORARILY.
Section 252(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1282(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) 180 days, if the immigration officer determines that
the crewman--
``(A) intends to depart, within the period for which the
crewman is permitted to land, on the same vessel or on a
vessel or aircraft other than the vessel on which the crewman
arrived; and
``(B) will perform ship-to-ship liquid cargo transfer
operations to or from any other vessel engaged in foreign
trade during such period.''.
SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
For purposes of this Act, and the amendments made by this
Act, the performance by a crewman of ship-to-ship liquid
cargo transfer operations to or from any other vessel engaged
in foreign trade shall not be considered, for immigration
purposes, to be services, work, labor or employment by the
crewman within the United States.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Nadler) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Fitzgerald)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
General Leave
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on S. 5168.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, S. 5168, the Energy Security and Lightering Independence
Act of 2022, will make a small but important technical fix to our
immigration laws to ensure that the visas for certain crewmembers
engaged in a process known as lightering are functional.
Lightering is the ship-to-ship transfer of crude oil or liquid
natural gas from a smaller vessel onto a larger vessel, or vice versa,
for import and export. Approximately 74 percent of all U.S. exports and
44 percent of U.S. imports are conducted by lightering.
Lightering vessel crewmembers are issued combination C-1/D visas by
the U.S. State Department. A crewmember or D visa is a nonimmigrant
visa for persons working aboard vessels at sea or airplanes on
international flights, providing services required for the normal
operation of those vessels, and intending to depart the United States
on the same vessel or any other vessel within 29 days.
A transit or C-1 visa allows the crewmember to travel or transit
through the United States as a passenger to join a ship or aircraft on
which that crewmember will work.
Because the work aboard lightering vessels typically lasts 3 to 6
months,
[[Page H9926]]
the 29-day limit on the combination C-1/D visa by itself is not
adequate. Therefore, for decades, Customs and Border Protection has
granted parole to lightering vessel crewmembers upon arrival in the
United States, allowing them to remain on board the vessel and then to
depart after their services aboard the vessel are completed up to 6
months later.
This legislation simply modifies the maximum period of stay for
lightering crewmembers under the C-1/D visa from 29 days to 180 days.
The simple change makes the C-1/D visa functional for lightering
crewmembers, thus eliminating the need for CBP to continue granting
parole on a case-by-case basis.
The legislation makes clear that this is a narrow change that only
applies to lightering crewmembers who are transiting through or landing
temporarily in the United States and that these crewmembers are
explicitly not eligible to work in the United States on the C-1/D visa.
This technical fix is also expected to save CBP $250,000 and 6,000
man-hours per year.
I thank Representative Sylvia Garcia for her leadership and for
introducing this important legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the bill, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
S. 5168 makes a narrow and positive change to U.S. immigration law to
ensure that alien lighterers have access to visas that allow them to do
their jobs on ships in U.S. waters.
Lightering is an offshore ship-to-ship transfer of oil from one oil
tanker that is too big to travel into a U.S. port to a ship that is
small enough to enter the port. According to the oil industry,
lightering is used for over 50 percent of the crude oil imports into
the United States.
In order to get the ships in U.S. waters, alien lighterers must
currently obtain a C-1/D visa, which is a combination of a transit visa
and a crewmember visa.
The C visa, or transit visa, allows the lighterer to enter the U.S.
to board the ship on which he or she will be working. The D visa allows
the lighterer to work as an alien crewman.
While the maximum period of stay allowed under the D visa is 29 days,
the work of the lightering crews normally lasts anywhere from 3 to 6
months.
As a workaround to the 29-day limit, once lighterers are present at
the U.S. port of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP,
officers parole them into the United States for a 180-day period.
Recognizing the importance of the lightering industry and its crews
to oil supply chain security, CBP has granted lighterers this parole
under both Democrat and Republican administrations.
Unfortunately, such a situation is not what was contemplated when
Congress created the parole authority. Statute requires that parole be
used only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or
significant public benefit.
The Trump administration aimed to rein in executive abuse of the
parole authority. In doing so, it initially curtailed the use of parole
for lighterers but soon after returned to allowing the practice.
S. 5168 recognizes the importance of the lightering industry to the
security of the oil supply chain. The bill creates a narrowly tailored
subcategory of C and D visas for aliens performing ``ship-to-ship
liquid cargo transfer operations to or from another vessel engaged in
foreign trade.''
{time} 1430
It is very specific to lighterers and allows them to remain in the
United States for up to 180 days.
Mr. Speaker, I support this narrow change that will help ensure the
security of our oil supply chain at a time when the Biden
administration refuses to allow domestic industries producing energy
here at home.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Garcia), the sponsor of the bill and a member of the
Judiciary Committee.
Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to express my
strong support for S. 5168, the Energy Security and Lightering
Independence Act of 2022 by Senators Padilla and Cornyn.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my Senate counterparts for their work on this
important bipartisan legislation, as well as Chairman Nadler and his
staff for their efforts in getting this bill to the floor today.
I am proud to champion and sponsor this bill in the House, and I
encourage all my colleagues to support the swift passage of this
bipartisan bill.
Lightering is the ship-to-ship transfer of crude oil and liquid
natural gas from a smaller vessel onto a larger vessel, or vice versa,
for import and export. These ships are just plain too big to come in,
so smaller ship comes in.
Approximately, 74 percent of U.S. exports and 44 percent of U.S.
imports are conducted by lightering. Lightering vessels are foreign-
flagged and therefore staffed with foreign crew. These workers are
highly trained, skilled, long-term employees whose sole function is to
work on the lightering and get the transfer done. They are not
authorized to do any other work offshore or on dock.
Currently, lightering crews transit through a U.S. port under a C-1/D
visa, which allows workers a 29-day work period--only 29 days. However,
under the current structure, lightering crewmembers do not fit well
into this visa category because they rarely, if ever, transit for less
than 29 days.
Because those visas are only valid for up to 29 days and the
crewmembers' shift is often for 180 days, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, as has already been mentioned, must parole these crews to
extend their visa time consistent with their work schedule. Let's be
clear--paroles are burdensome for the workers and CBP, and there are
additional costs to taxpayers.
These crewmembers are critical to the U.S. supply chain. If
lightering crewmembers cannot enter the U.S. under a proper visa,
lightering vessels cannot be appropriately staffed. This could result
in delays and bottlenecks for U.S. energy exports or imports, impacting
all of us. We cannot let this happen.
Therefore, my bill will bolster our energy security to ensure our
lightering vessels are properly staffed. It makes a necessary technical
correction to codify an existing State Department practice of issuing
C-1/D visas for lightering. Again, this simply codifies a practice
saving taxpayer dollars.
It would also allow crewmembers of lightering ships to work in the
United States for up to 180 days in order for them to do their jobs
thoroughly and completely.
This bill will bring more clarity to the lightering industry visa
process for both the workers and all the U.S. Federal agencies
involved, saving us tax dollars, and making things more efficient.
It will protect and secure the U.S. energy supply chain, which is a
very important part of the economy in my district. It has already
passed out of the Senate with bipartisan, unanimous support.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to sponsor this bill in the House. I thank my
colleagues from Texas, Messrs. Crenshaw, Weber, Gonzales, Cloud, and
Mr. Palazzo.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this very
important piece of legislation, and let's get it to the President's
desk at a time when we need to ensure that our supply chain continues
without any issues.
Mr. Speaker, let's keep America's supply chain strong and please vote
for this bill.
Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman, I
thank the manager, and I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Sylvia
Garcia from Texas, and Senator Cornyn from Texas, and the other
sponsors.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to acknowledge the crucialness of this
legislation dealing with the lighterers. It is about the economic
engine that many of us have in our communities, and that is, of course,
the port, but also the travel and business and the issues of recreation
that are encountered on large vessels.
[[Page H9927]]
This bill will give these individuals the time that they need to do
the proper work safely, rather than the short time of 29 days, to have
an extended period of time to respond is both, in this climate, an
economic boost, a recognition of fairness in the immigration process,
and to recognize the importance of the hard work that the lighterers
do.
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Congresswoman Garcia, Members of the
other body, and Senator Cornyn for the work that is going to shine a
light on better productivity and a better economic aspect of this work.
Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, this legislation makes a modest but
important technical change to the immigration laws that would improve
the efficiency of our agencies and of a critical domestic industry.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support it, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, S. 5168.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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