[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7051-7052]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 MAKING TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 
                                  2008

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2829 
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 assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2829) to make technical corrections to section 
     1244 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
     Year 2008, which provides special immigrant status for 
     certain Iraqis, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join the bipartisan group 
of Senators on this bill who all recognize our obligation to help those 
Iraqis who have assisted the United States in Iraq. This legislation 
will remove obstacles encountered by the Departments of

[[Page 7052]]

 State and Homeland Security in issuing the 5,000 special visas that 
Congress authorized in January for those Iraqi citizens.
  As part of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress 
provided 5,000 special immigrant visas for Iraqis who had aided the 
United States as interpreters in the country. As chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee, I have supported these efforts. The Departments of 
State and Homeland Security seem stymied and unable to implement what 
Congress has provided. In our efforts to remove any impediment to fast 
implementation and address any excuse for further delays, we seek 
passage of this bill as well, to cut through bureaucratic stalling and 
technical requirements.
  This administration has been woefully slow in recognizing its 
responsibilities not only to those Iraqis who have helped us, but to 
all Iraqis who have been displaced or have fled the violence still 
plaguing that country. The relative inaction by the administration with 
respect to those Iraqis whose lives are in grave danger due to their 
assistance of the United States is especially troubling. Action is 
needed now. The Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on this 
humanitarian problem more than 15 months ago. That hearing on the 
plight of Iraqi refugees was among our first, in January 2007. In the 
interim, the administration has continued to make promises it cannot, 
or will not keep with respect to the resettlement of Iraqi refugees in 
the United States.
  The administration's failure to acknowledge the Iraqi refugee crisis 
is emblematic of its inability to address other serious human rights 
issues that are much of its own making. The injustice resulting from 
the administration's interpretation of the material support and 
terrorism related bars that were enacted following September 11, 2001, 
continues to deprive legitimate asylum seekers of our protection. The 
consequences of these laws continue to go unaddressed, despite the fact 
that Congress has now twice given the Department of Homeland Security 
the authority to alleviate the situation. While Secretary Chertoff is 
unwilling to use this authority to provide asylum to those who need our 
protection, he has repeatedly used the vast authority ceded to him by 
proponents of the REAL ID Act to waive landmark environmental laws in 
the course of constructing a border wall between the United States and 
Mexico.
  This month, during the Judiciary Committee's oversight hearing on the 
Department of Homeland Security, I followed up by asking Secretary 
Chertoff about his Department's lack of progress on implementing the 
authority Congress has given to him to remedy the material support and 
terrorism bars. At that time, I challenged him to fulfill the goal of 
legislation I authored and Congress enacted to provide relief to 
individuals such as Saman Kareem Ahmad, who received a commendation 
from General Petreaus for his work on behalf of the United States in 
Iraq and instructs U.S military personnel in preparation for service in 
Iraq. Although Mr. Ahmad was granted asylum, his application for a 
green card was denied because the organization with which he had once 
served, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, was deemed a ``terrorist 
organization'' by DHS. I urged Secretary Chertoff to use the authority 
he has been given to ensure that individuals like Mr. Ahmad were not 
denied a place in the United States because of inflexible and expansive 
readings of the so-called ``material support'' bar. I hope the 
administration takes the opportunity Congress has given it to correct 
this wrongheaded policy and practice. It is long past the time for this 
administration to take action and acknowledge the severe humanitarian 
consequences of its policies, whether in Iraq, or at our shores where 
the persecuted are seeking refuge.
  Providing for the safety of our Iraqi allies is only one aspect of an 
increasingly severe humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Refugees International 
recently reported that in the vacuum left by the failure of the Iraqi 
government to address the plight of millions of its internally 
displaced citizens, various non-state militias are providing assistance 
to those who are suffering. By the report's account, these militias are 
finding fertile ground for recruiting among this population, with the 
Shiite Sadrist movement now being the ``main service provider'' to 
displaced Iraqis. We have been pressing the administration for some 
time to acknowledge this crisis and to make increased efforts to assist 
those Iraqis who have been internally displaced or who have left the 
country. Now we learn that the dangers associated with the 
administration's failure to recognize the magnitude of this crisis go 
beyond the terrible human cost that has resulted and threaten to 
undermine any efforts to bring positive change to Iraq.
  The bill the Senate approves today will be another effort to 
encourage this administration to fulfill its obligations to those who 
have sacrificed significantly to assist the United States. It is my 
hope that this will end the unacceptable delays and provide long 
overdue relief.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill 
be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any 
statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 2829) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                S. 2829

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO PROVISION GRANTING 
                   SPECIAL IMMIGRANT STATUS FOR CERTAIN IRAQIS.

       Section 1244(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act 
     for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``each of the five years 
     beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act'' and 
     inserting ``fiscal years 2008 through 2012''; and
       (2) in paragraph (3)--
       (A) in subparagraph (A)--
       (i) in the subparagraph heading, by striking ``one through 
     four'' and inserting ``2008 through 2011''; and
       (ii) by striking ``one through four'' and inserting ``2008 
     through 2011''; and
       (B) in subparagraph (B)--
       (i) in the matter preceding clause (i)--

       (I) in the subparagraph heading, by striking ``five and 
     six'' and inserting ``2012 and 2013'';
       (II) by striking ``the fifth fiscal year beginning after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act'' and inserting 
     ``fiscal year 2012''; and
       (III) by striking ``the sixth fiscal year beginning after 
     such date'' and inserting ``fiscal year 2013''; and

       (ii) in each of clauses (i) and (ii), by striking ``the 
     fifth fiscal year'' and inserting ``fiscal year 2012''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO CONVERT PETITIONS DURING TRANSITION 
                   PERIOD.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of Homeland Security or the 
     Secretary of State may convert an approved petition for 
     special immigrant status under section 1059 of the National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1101 
     note) with respect to which a visa under such section 1059 is 
     not immediately available to an approved petition for special 
     immigrant status under section 1244 of the National Defense 
     Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181) 
     notwithstanding any requirement of subsection (a) or (b) of 
     such section 1244 but subject to the numerical limitations 
     applicable under subsection (c) of such section 1244, as 
     amended by this Act.
       (b) Duration.--The authority under subsection (a) shall be 
     available only with respect to petitions filed before October 
     1, 2008.

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