[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 199 (Wednesday, December 21, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S9738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     
     
         FOR THE RELIEF OF ARPITA KURDEKAR, GIRISH KURDEKAR, AND VANDANA 
                                     KURDEKAR
     
       Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
     Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of 
     H.R. 680 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
       The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
       The clerk will report the bill by title.
       The bill clerk read as follows:
     
            A bill (H.R. 680) for the relief of Arpita Kurdekar, Girish 
          Kurdekar, and Vandana Kurdekar.
     
       There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the 
     Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
       Mr. BLUMENTHAL. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered 
     read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered 
     made and laid upon the table.
       The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
       The bill (H.R. 680) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
     third time, and passed.
       Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, this measure provides relief through 
     H.R. 680 for Arpita Kurdekar and her parents, Girish and Vandana.
       Arpita came here from India in 2014 to pursue higher education. Like 
     so many students before her, she was drawn to the strength of our 
     universities. She started her master's degree at the University of 
     Buffalo.
       Heartbreakingly and tragically, in September of 2016, in a freak 
     accident, she was struck by a falling tree and suffered a severe spinal 
     injury that caused her to be paralyzed from the neck down. Her parents 
     came to this country from India to be at her side, to be her aid.
       Remarkably, she has not only survived, but she has thrived. In fact, 
     she has found the strength and will and character to overcome that 
     paralysis. She is now a resident of Connecticut and she pursues a Ph.D. 
     in structural engineering at the University of Connecticut, while also 
     working as a graduate research fellow and research assistant. Her 
     research is on the cutting edge, exploring how technologies, including 
     virtual reality, can enhance learning opportunities in engineering and 
     the arts.
       It is a miraculous story.
       Here, she has access to physical therapy and to other resources that 
     she needs, and services. Of course, her parents are essential to her 
     performance and, indeed, her thriving as she has done. If she is forced 
     to return to India, she would have drastically reduced opportunities 
     for her and also for this country, which is benefiting enormously from 
     her work. She would have needed access to physical care and therapy 
     that were unavailable there. She would have effectively been homebound 
     due to the lack of accessibility for the disabled.
       In all kinds of ways, her life will now be productive and rewarding 
     to her and to this country. That is why, in recognition of those very 
     difficult circumstances, the Kurdekar family has been accorded the 
     permanent status to stay here as a result of our passing this bill 
     without objection--in effect, unanimously--here. I thank my colleagues 
     for that action.
     
     
                              Afghan Adjustment Act
     
       Madam President, I also want to talk briefly about the Afghan 
     Adjustment Act because I have just come from the Senate Swamp, the lawn 
     outside the Capitol, where a group representing the veterans and Afghan 
     allies and others who traveled across country who have been literally 
     on the steps of our Capitol to tell us, in effect, that we have an 
     obligation to the at-risk Afghan allies. Literally thousands of them 
     have come here and have only a limited amount of time under their 
     current status, the humanitarian parole, and then could be deported 
     back to Afghanistan and to a place where they would have targets on 
     their back, where they would face persecution, torture, death.
       We need to give them permanent status here. We need to provide these 
     men and women, who have risked their lives for our country and put 
     their futures on the line for us, the safety and security of staying in 
     this country. We cannot turn our backs on the Afghan allies who managed 
     to escape in those frightful days last summer, nor can we turn our 
     backs to the at-risk Afghan allies who remain there.
       I have advocated their cause. I championed their plight for the 
     months since we withdrew from Afghanistan. I will pledge to them, to 
     our veterans who have so bravely advocated this cause, and to the 
     Afghan allies who come to this country that we will continue this 
     fight.
       Some of these individuals are former Afghan special forces. Some are 
     female members of the Afghan defense forces who accompanied our troops 
     and provided vital intelligence that saved countless American lives.
       Overall, these Afghan allies, now at risk, worked with our troops and 
     diplomats and helped to save their lives and guide them.
       I know from my son's own experience as a U.S. Marine Corps officer 
     that our men and women in combat were, in fact, saved and made secure 
     because of their interpreters, their guides, their translators, all who 
     worked with our troops and diplomats.
       We must honor or commitment to them. They put their lives on the line 
     for us. A failure would be a stain on our national honor. Great nations 
     keep their promises, and that is what the Afghan Adjustment Act would 
     enable us to do. We need to pass it next session if we cannot do it 
     this session.
       I regret that right now it is not part of the omnibus budget bill, 
     but our bipartisan group--and it is truly bipartisan and we have the 
     votes to pass it even with a 60-vote threshold--will continue fighting, 
     working for this cause.
       I yield the floor.
       The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ossoff). The Senator from Connecticut.
     
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