[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16251-16253]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
  CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO ABSENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES DUE TO 
         CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT BY CHIEF OF MISSION OR ARMED FORCES

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 6223) to amend section 1059(e) of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 to clarify that a period of 
employment abroad by the Chief of Mission or United States Armed Forces 
as a translator, interpreter, or in an executive level security 
position is to be counted as a period of residence and physical 
presence in the United States for purposes of qualifying for 
naturalization if at least a portion of such period was spent in Iraq 
or Afghanistan, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6223

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

     SECTION 1. CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO ABSENCE FROM THE 
                   UNITED STATES DUE TO CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT BY 
                   CHIEF OF MISSION OR ARMED FORCES.

       (a) In General.--Section 1059(e) of the National Defense 
     Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) 
     is amended to read as follows:
       ``(e) Naturalization.--
       ``(1) In general.--A period of absence from the United 
     States described in paragraph (2)--
       ``(A) shall not be considered to break any period for which 
     continuous residence or physical presence in the United 
     States is required for naturalization under title III of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.); and
       ``(B) shall be treated as a period of residence and 
     physical presence in the United States for purposes of 
     satisfying the requirements for naturalization under such 
     title.
       ``(2) Period of absence described.--A period of absence 
     described in this paragraph is a period of absence from the 
     United States due to a person's employment by the Chief of 
     Mission or United States Armed Forces, under contract with 
     the Chief of Mission or United States Armed Forces, or by a 
     firm or corporation under contract with the Chief of Mission 
     or United States Armed Forces, if--
       ``(A) such employment involved supporting the Chief of 
     Mission or United States Armed Forces as a translator, 
     interpreter, or in a security-related position in an 
     executive or managerial capacity; and
       ``(B) the person spent at least a portion of the time 
     outside the United States working directly with the Chief of 
     Mission or United States Armed Forces as a translator, 
     interpreter, or in a security-related position in an 
     executive or managerial capacity.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect as if included in the enactment of section 
     1059(e) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
     Year 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 6223, as 
amended, currently under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill and thank Representative Dent for 
introducing it.
  Many men and women put their lives at risk to serve our nation with 
the Department of State in U.S. Embassies abroad. They contribute 
directly to the security of our country.
  As we have become aware, conflicts from across the globe affect these 
employees in countries such as Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, Israel, and most 
recently, Libya. Our embassies have been attacked. Our flags have been 
burned. And our ambassador to Libya and three other Americans have been 
murdered.
  Regrettably, service to the United States in our embassies abroad 
often occurs under dangerous conditions and in threatening 
environments.
  The work of our foreign officers and agents assures us that we are 
kept safe each and every day. We are fortunate to have men and women 
willing to sacrifice and serve in the embassies. These individuals 
often accept posts on the front lines overseas as they serve to defend 
our freedoms. And for that we are grateful.
  To ensure that our nation has the tools and resources it needs, such 
as linguistic expertise or knowledge of a specific geographic area, 
legal permanent residents serve the United States in critical 
capacities in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world.
  Unfortunately, their loyalty, dedication and success can come at a 
price if they intend on naturalizing and becoming a United States 
citizen.
  Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, an applicant for 
naturalization must be a lawfully admitted permanent resident for at 
least five years, have continuous residence in the U.S. during that 
time and be physically

[[Page 16252]]

present in the U.S. for at least half of that five year period.
  Continuous residence is the time that the applicant has maintained 
official residence within the United States. Physical presence is the 
time the applicant has been actually and physically located in the 
United States.
  A permanent resident may become ineligible to naturalize because they 
have not been ``physically present and residing in the United States, 
after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, for an 
uninterrupted period of at least one year.''
  Any departure from the United States prevents the establishment of 
``an uninterrupted period of one year'' after lawful admission for 
permanent residence.
  This means that a legal permanent resident who is serving in our 
embassies overseas cannot qualify for naturalization.
  This bill resolves this issue. It allows legal permanent residents' 
time in embassies abroad to count towards both the ``continuous 
residence'' requirement and the ``physical presence'' requirement for 
naturalization.
  This is a common sense change that brings certain national security 
professionals in our embassies abroad in line with their military 
counterparts. Military service members' time overseas currently counts 
towards physical presence.
  Like their military colleagues, senior and managerial legal permanent 
residents who serve in embassies, regardless of duration, are now 
regarded as being legally physically present in the U.S. during the 
period they serve the Department of State.
  Additionally, under current law, a person who provides translator or 
interpreter services to the U.S. Armed Forces or the Chief of Mission 
in Iraq or Afghanistan can count that period of absence from the United 
States toward the ``continuous residence.'' However, that time does not 
count towards the one year continuous physical presence requirement for 
naturalization.
  This bill allows people who work in a security-related position in an 
executive or managerial capacity for the Armed Forces and Chief of 
Mission to benefit in the same way as people who work as interpreters 
or translators.
  It also permits interpreters and translators who serve the Armed 
forces or Chief of Mission in places other than Iraq or Afghanistan to 
receive this benefit.
  I again thank Mr. Dent for his work on this bill as it honors the 
legal permanent residents who serve our nation abroad and facilitates 
their path to citizenship. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  I, again, just want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Dent) for sponsoring this bill, and I yield him the balance of my time.
  Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to rise in support of H.R. 
6223, a bill I introduced earlier this year as well as in the 111th 
Congress.
  I would especially like to thank Chairman Lamar Smith for his service 
as chairman of this committee for the past 2 years. He has been a great 
leader, and I will miss him as chairman. I just wanted to thank him for 
his help with this legislation, as well as his staff, Dimple Shah and 
others, Kristin Dini from my own office. I wanted to thank them all for 
their support and help with this measure. They have taken a lot of time 
to understand the difficulty the current policy poses to highly skilled 
and committed men and women serving in some of the most volatile 
regions of the world.
  As the chairman briefly described, H.R. 6223 would amend current law 
to allow legal permanent residents working for the chief of mission in 
an interpreter, translator, or in an executive or managerial security-
related position overseas to count their time of service toward the 
continuous residence and physical presence requirement for 
naturalization as a United States citizen.
  While this change is seemingly minor in the grand scheme of 
immigration policy, it is one that should be addressed by Congress--if 
for no other reason than to recognize the critical contribution these 
men and women are making for our country in the war against terrorism 
in unstable regions across the globe.
  Quite candidly and truthfully, I didn't give much thought to this 
issue until a few years ago when I was made aware of the selfless and 
highly skilled service being provided by a constituent and legal 
permanent resident from Pennsylvania, George Bou Jaoudeh, who happens 
to be a Lebanese national working with the State Department security 
overseas in Iraq since 2005.
  Mr. Bou Jaoudeh spends 4 months in Iraq and then 20 days in the 
United States. As a green card holder with a desire to naturalize as a 
U.S. citizen, he has been unable to meet continuous residency and 
physical presence requirements because of his time working abroad in 
support of our country in a very dangerous place, I think we would all 
agree.
  Consequently, even though he works inside the American embassy in 
Baghdad, George Bou Jaoudeh has not met his 1-year continuous residency 
requirement, which is absurd because he is serving our Nation on 
American territory in the embassy. It's a shame that we have to use 
legislation to address this, but that's the situation we find ourselves 
in.
  In September, the world watched as a violent raid on our embassy in 
Benghazi, Libya, took the life of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three 
other brave Americans, two of whom have served as diplomatic security 
officers. Committed to serving our Nation, these men gave their lives 
to provide security for American diplomats in an unstable country, 
struggling in the midst of historic change.
  There is a real enemy working to, at the very least, threaten 
American ideals and our way of life. Let's ensure the policies shaping 
our immigration laws do not create a greater hindrance to us in this 
fight.
  With this bill under consideration today, we have the opportunity to 
recognize the legal permanent residents who have proven their 
commitment to our Nation's ideals and missions, should they be working 
with the State Department as executive-level security personnel, 
interpreter, or translator, regarding their continuous residence and 
physical presence requirements.
  I ask the House to support this commonsense, reasonable legislation 
to make sure that we recognize individuals who are serving our country, 
legal residents who are serving in very dangerous places, serving in 
our State Department, that they be given the recognition they deserve 
and a proper pathway to citizenship.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6223, a bill that would expand 
upon a small, but important provision in our immigration laws and 
alleviate one barrier often faced by certain persons applying for 
naturalization.
  Under our immigration laws, a lawful permanent resident who is 
applying to become a U.S. citizen generally must reside continuously in 
the United States for 5 years. Persons who are naturalizing by virtue 
of their marriage to a U.S. citizen or battered spouses or children may 
naturalize after a 3-year period of residence. A person must also be 
physically present in the United States for at least one-half of that 
time.
  In 2007, Congress enacted a law to ensure that when a person works as 
an interpreter or translator in Iraq or Afghanistan for the U.S. chief 
of mission or the Armed Forces--either directly or by contract--that 
time should count toward the ``continuous residence'' requirement for 
naturalization.
  This makes sense. Why should we penalize a lawful permanent resident 
for choosing to provide critical translation or interpretative services 
in Iraq or Afghanistan by saying that the person failed to reside 
continuously in the United States?
  Today's bill builds on that commonsense provision in law in three 
ways:
  First, it eliminates the geographical restriction in current law and 
says that time spent providing qualifying services to the U.S. chief of 
mission or Armed Forces anywhere in the world should be considered for 
naturalization purposes. Lawful permanent residents provide important 
services to our government all around the world, and it makes little 
sense to limit the provision only to service in those two countries.
  Second, the current law applies only to the work of translators or 
interpreters, but lawful permanent residents assist our chiefs of 
mission and Armed Forces in a variety of important ways. To the current 
list of qualifying jobs,

[[Page 16253]]

this bill adds certain high-level security-related work.
  Finally, although the provision in current law only allows the time 
abroad not to count as a break in the ``continuous residence'' 
requirement for naturalization, this bill would allow the time also to 
count toward the ``physical presence'' requirement.
  I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his work on the bill. I 
urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 6223, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend section 
1059(e) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 
to clarify that a period of employment abroad by the Chief of Mission 
or United States Armed Forces as a translator, interpreter, or in a 
security-related position in an executive or managerial capacity is to 
be counted as a period of residence and physical presence in the United 
States for purposes of qualifying for naturalization, and for other 
purposes.''
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________