[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2526-S2527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 335. Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. Tillis) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2226, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 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 title X, add the following:
Subtitle H--Granting Recognition to Accomplished Talented Employees for
Unwavering Loyalty Act
SEC. 1091. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ``Granting Recognition to
Accomplished Talented Employees for Unwavering Loyalty Act''
or ``GRATEFUL Act''.
SEC. 1092. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In 1952, with the enactment of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), Congress established
an immigrant visa program to reward foreign nationals who are
United States Government employees for their service to the
United States (referred to in this Act as the ``Government
Employee Immigrant Visa program'').
(2) For 71 years, the Government Employee Immigrant Visa
program has allowed foreign nationals with at least 15 years
of exceptional service to the United States to immigrate to
the United States with their families.
(3) Such foreign national employees of the United States
Government are the bulwark of United States foreign policy,
risking their lives year after year through civil unrest,
terrorism, natural disasters, and war.
(4) The work of such foreign nationals--
(A) ensures the safety and well-being of United States
citizens;
[[Page S2527]]
(B) provides security and logistics for visiting
delegations; and
(C) supports United States Government operations abroad.
(5) Such foreign nationals include employees of the
Department of State, the United States Agency for
International Development, the Department of Defense, the
Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice,
the Department of Commerce, and the Department of
Agriculture.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the United States should preserve the immigrant visa program
for foreign nationals who are employees of the United States
Government abroad or of the American Institute in Taiwan, and
who have provided exceptional service over a long term to the
United States, by providing a dedicated allocation of visas
for such employees and their immediate family members when
visas are not immediately available in the corresponding visa
category.
SEC. 1093. VISA AVAILABILITY FOR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE
IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Beginning in fiscal year 2024, subject to
subsection (b), visas shall be made available to a special
immigrant described in section 101(a)(27)(D) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D)) if
a visa is not immediately available for issuance to the
special immigrant under section 203(b)(4) of that Act (8
U.S.C. 1153(b)(4)).
(b) Numerical Limitations.--
(1) Fiscal year 2024.--For fiscal year 2024, not more than
3,500 visas shall be made available under subsection (a).
(2) Subsequent fiscal years.--For fiscal year 2025 and each
fiscal year thereafter, not more than 3,000 visas shall be
made available under subsection (a).
(c) Temporary Reduction in Diversity Visas.--Section
203(d)(2) of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central America
Relief Act (8 U.S.C. 1151 note; Public Law 105-100) is
amended--
(1) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
``(2) In no case shall the reduction under paragraph (1)
for a fiscal year exceed the amount by which--
``(A) the sum of--
``(i) one-half of the total number of individuals described
in subclauses (I), (II), (III), and (IV) of section
309(c)(5)(C)(i) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note;
Public Law 104-208) who have adjusted their status to that of
aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence under
section 202 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American
Relief Act (Public Law 105-100; 8 U.S.C. 1255 note) as of the
end of the previous fiscal year; and
``(ii) the total number of individuals described in section
101(a)(27)(D) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D)) for whom visas shall be made available
for the applicable fiscal year under section 1093(b) of the
Granting Recognition to Accomplished Talented Employees for
Unwavering Loyalty Act; exceeds
``(B) the total of the reductions in available visas under
this subsection for all previous fiscal years.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(3)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in a fiscal year
following a fiscal year for which the total number of aliens
described in subparagraph (B) is zero.
``(B) For a fiscal year, the total number of aliens
described in this subparagraph is the total number of
individuals described in section 101(a)(27)(D) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D)) who
have been issued visas during the previous fiscal year under
the Granting Recognition to Accomplished Talented Employees
for Unwavering Loyalty Act.
``(C) Nothing in this paragraph may be construed--
``(i) to repeal, modify, or render permanently inapplicable
paragraph (1); or
``(ii) to prevent the offsetting of the number of visas
described in that paragraph for the purpose of providing visa
availability for aliens described in subparagraph (B).
``(4) In the event that the number of visas available for a
fiscal year under section 201(e) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(e)) is reduced to a number
fewer than 50,000, not fewer than 3,000 visas shall be made
available for individuals described in section 1093(a) of the
Granting Recognition to Accomplished Talented Employees for
Unwavering Loyalty Act.''.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section or the
amendments made by this section may be construed to modify
the number of visas available under section 203(b)(4) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(4)) to
special immigrants described in section 101(a)(27)(D) of that
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D)).
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