[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 28, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF THE SPECIAL IMMIGRANT VISAS FOR AFGHAN FULBRIGHT 
                              SCHOLARS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 28, 2023

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the ``Special Immigrant 
Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act''. The legislation would direct 
the State Department to automatically issue a Special Immigrant Visa 
(SIV) for every Afghan who lived in the United States as a Fulbright 
Scholar and their immediate family members so they can escape 
persecution by the Taliban and relocate safely to the United States.
  During Operation Enduring Freedom and the U.S. military drawdown from 
the region, my office helped to evacuate 251 individuals from 
Afghanistan. This includes American citizens, Afghan interpreters, and 
Special Immigrant Visa recipients. During the evacuation process, I 
helped evacuate over a dozen Afghan Fulbright Scholars who studied at 
the University of California, Davis. That experience exposed 
significant challenges for Afghan Fulbright Scholars with the current 
SIV process that underscored the need for the ``Special Immigrant Visas 
for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act.''
  In 2009, Congress passed the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 
(Title VI of Public Law 111-8) making a special class of American 
visas--known as Special Immigrant Visas-available to individual Afghan 
allies who supported the United States' mission in Afghanistan since 
the September 11, 2001 attacks. An SIV entitles a foreign national to 
relocate and live lawfully in the United States on a temporary basis 
with the option to settle permanently.
  Fulbright Scholarships are one of the most vital U.S. cultural 
exchange programs that help to improve intercultural relations, 
diplomacy, and coordination between the United States and other 
countries. When my Congressional office learned that UC Davis' 
Fulbright participants were stuck attempting to escape Afghanistan last 
year, we immediately worked around-the-clock with both the State 
Department and the U.S. military to evacuate these Afghan allies. That 
critical work revealed red tape that prevented current and former 
Afghan Fulbright Scholars from escaping Taliban rule. My `Special 
Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act' would automatically 
issue a Special Immigrant Visa to all current and former Afghan 
Fulbright Scholars to help any remaining Scholars and their immediate 
family members safely evacuate the region.
  This is the right thing to do for our Afghan allies who stood with 
the United States against the Taliban and the terrorists responsible 
for the 9/11 attacks, and I will work tirelessly to ensure see them 
brought safely to America.

                          ____________________