[House Report 106-364]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





106th Congress                                                   Report
  1st Session           HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                106-364

======================================================================



 
                   FOR THE RELIEF OF BELINDA MCGREGOR

                                _______


 October 5, 1999.--Referred to the Private Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Smith of Texas, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 452]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (S. 452) for the relief of Belinda McGregor, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                           TABLE OF CONTENTS

                                                                  

                                                                 Page
Purpose and Summary........................................           1
Background and Need for the Legislation....................           1
Hearings...................................................           2
Committee Consideration....................................           2
Committee Oversight Findings...............................           2
Committee on Government Reform Findings....................           2
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures..................           3
Committee Cost Estimate....................................           3
Constitutional Authority Statement.........................           3
Agency Views...............................................           3

                          Purpose and Summary

    This bill would deem Belinda McGregor to have been selected 
for a diversity immigrant visa for fiscal year 2000.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    Belinda McGregor, a citizen of the United Kingdom, filed an 
application for the 1995 Diversity Visa program. Her husband, a 
citi-
zen of Ireland, filed a separate application at the same time. 
As the spouse of an Irish citizen, Ms. McGregor was eligible 
for the diversity program. Ms. McGregor's application was among 
those selected to receive a diversity visa in 1995. When the 
National Visa Center received the application, the clerk 
erroneously assumed that Belinda McGregor was not eligible for 
a visa because of her United Kingdom citizenship, and attempted 
to remedy the problem by replacing Ms. McGregor's name in the 
computer with that of her husband, a Irish citizen.
    Mr. McGregor was informed that he had been selected in the 
diversity program, and that additional documents were required. 
He sent the additional documents. When the National Visa Center 
received his completed information, it was discovered that his 
wife's name had been replaced with his and the application was 
placed back in her name. The National Visa Center never 
informed Ms. McGregor that she had been selected and as a 
result she never provided the requisite information before the 
September 1995 deadline. Her visa number was given to another 
applicant.
    Ms. McGregor was unfairly denied the 1995 diversity visa 
due to a series of errors by the National Visa Center. 
Unfortunately, the Center does not have the legal authority to 
rectify its mistake, and a private bill is needed to allow Ms. 
McGregor the visa to which she was entitled in 1995.

                                Hearings

    The committee's Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims held 
no hearings on S. 452.

                        Committee Consideration

    On September 30, 1999, the Subcommittee on Immigration and 
Claims met in open session and ordered favorably reported the 
bill S. 452, without amendment by voice vote, a quorum being 
present.
    On October 5, 1999, the Committee on the Judiciary met in 
open session and ordered reported favorably the bill S. 452 
without amendment by voice vote, a quorum being present.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 2(l)(3)(A) of rule XI of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, the committee reports 
that the findings and recommendations of the committee, based 
on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

                Committee on Government Reform Findings

    No findings or recommendations of the Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight were received as referred to in 
clause 2(l)(3)(D) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 2(l)(3)(B) of House Rule XI is inapplicable because 
this legislation does not provide new budgetary authority or 
increased tax expenditures.

                        Committee Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the committee believes that 
the bill would have no significant impact on the Federal 
budget. S. 452 could have a very small effect on fees collected 
by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This is based on 
the Congressional Budget Office cost estimate on S. 1304 in the 
105th Congress, the predecessor to S. 452. That Congressional 
Budget Office cost estimate follows:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, July 20, 1998.
Hon. Henry J. Hyde, Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1304, an act for the 
relief of Belinda McGregor.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark 
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
            Sincerely,
                                  June E. O'Neill Director.
S. 1304--An act for the relief of Belinda McGregor.
    S. 1304 would grant permanent residence to Belinda 
McGregor. CBO estimates that enacting this legislation would 
have no significant impact on the Federal budget. S. 1304 could 
have a very small effect on fees collected by the Immigration 
and Naturalization Service, which are classified as direct 
spending, so pay-as-you-go procedures would apply.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz, 
who can be reached at 226-2860. This estimate was approved by 
Paul N. Van de Water, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to rule XI, clause 2(1)(4) of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the committee finds the authority for 
this legislation in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4 of the 
Constitution.

                              Agency Views

    The comments of the Immigration and Naturalization Service 
on S. 452 are as follows:

                        U.S. Department of Justice,
                    Immigration and Naturalization Service,
                                    Washington, DC, August 4, 1999.
Hon. Orrin Hatch, Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: This is in reference to your request for 
a report relative to S. 452, a bill for the relief of Belinda 
McGregor.
    The bill would grant the beneficiary held and considered to 
have been selected for a diversity immigrant visa for fiscal 
year 1999 as of the date of the enactment of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act, upon payment of the required visa fee. The 
bill would also direct the proper visa number deduction.
            Sincerely,
         Allen Erenbaum, Director, Congressional Relations.

 Memorandum of information from immigration and naturalization service 
                            files re: s.452

    The beneficiary, Belinda McGregor, was born on April 4, 
1958, in Vienna, Austria. Ms. McGregor has dual citizenship 
status of Austria and Great Britain. Ms. McGregor resides at 
900 West Bitner Road, Apt. #T-11, Park City, Utah. Ms. McGregor 
has been employed by Sundance Catalog Company in Salt Lake 
City, Utah since January 1999, with an income of about $28,000 
a year.
    Service files indicate that Ms. McGregor submitted an 
application for a 1995 Diversity Visa Program. The application 
was mishandled by the National Visa Center because of confusion 
over Ms. McGregor's dual citizenship. Ms. McGregor has made 
numerous entries into the United States over the last 15 years. 
She last entered the United States at San Francisco, California 
on October 22, 1997, as a visitor for pleasure (B-2). Ms. 
McGregor was authorized to stay in the United States until 
March 2, 1998. Ms. McGregor was granted deferred action on 
September 22, 1998.
    The beneficiary married David McGregor, a citizen of 
Ireland, on August 24, 1990, in Dublin, Ireland. This marital 
union resulted in two children. The oldest child, Ronald 
McGregor, was born on January 30, 1983 in Vienna, Austria. 
Ronald resides in Vienna, Austria, but visits his mother in 
Park City, Utah often. The younger child, Caeylin Dane 
McGregor, was born on July 18, 1991, in Vienna, Austria. 
Caeylin resides with the beneficiary in Park City, Utah.
    Responses to national agency checks were negative. The 
beneficiary has not performed military service in the United 
States.

                                

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