[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)).
                                 ______