[House Report 106-580]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




                                                                       
106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-580

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            FOR THE RELIEF OF CERTAIN PERSIAN GULF EVACUEES

                                _______
                                

  April 13, 2000.--Referred to the Private Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Hyde, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3646]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 3646) for the relief of certain Persian Gulf 
evacuees, 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....................           2
Committee Consideration....................................           3
Committee Oversight Findings...............................           3
Committee on Government Reform Findings....................           3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures..................           3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate..................           3
Constitutional Authority Statement.........................           4
Agency Views...............................................           4

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 3646, for the relief of certain Persian Gulf evacuees 
would allow certain individuals who were evacuated from Kuwait 
during the Persian Gulf War to file for permanent resident 
status.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    As Interpreter Releases reports:\1\
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    \1\ November 18, 1991.

        [F]rom September 2, 1990, to December 14, 1990, the 
        U.S. airlifted from Kuwait thousands of persons who 
        either had U.S. citizen children or who secretly 
        protected U.S. citizens during the Iraqi invasion and 
        occupation of Kuwait. A total of 2,227 persons were 
        evacuated . . . the majority were Palestinian. . . . 
        The evacuees were initially paroled into the U.S. and 
        given temporary work authorization. Parole was 
        eventually extended until December 31, 1991. . . . [A]n 
        INS official informed the evacuees that the INS would 
        not renew their parole beyond December 31. Their 
        situation was worsened by the Kuwaiti government's 
        refusal to allow many of the evacuees, especially 
        Palestinians, to return to Kuwait, arguing that they 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        had been disloyal during the Iraqi occupation.

    On November 1, 1991, several members, including the 
Subcommittee on International Law, Immigration and Refugees 
chairman and ranking member, sent a letter to Attorney General 
Barr urging him to:

        grant [temporary protected status] to the approximately 
        1,500 persons of Palestinian background airlifted into 
        the United States from Kuwait during the fall of 1990. 
        We strongly believe that extraordinary conditions exist 
        for these 1,500 persons. . . . Our government evacuated 
        these families because of their close ties to the 
        United States and because of the fear that they would 
        be endangered by the Iraqi Army. Many of the children 
        are American citizens. The Government of Kuwait refuses 
        to let these families return and their permission to 
        stay and work in the United States expires on December 
        31, 1991. Based on the foregoing, we urge you to grant 
        TPS to these Palestinian families for an initial period 
        of one year while we await developments in Kuwait.

    On November 14, 1991, President Bush directed the Attorney 
General to grant the Persian Gulf Evacuees (``PGEs'') a 
deferral of enforced departure until January 1, 1996, and 
employment authorization for that period. President Clinton 
later extended the deadline until January 1 of 1997. The INS 
decided that no further extensions would be granted.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Senators Kennedy and Abraham wrote Janet Reno on April 3, 1997, 
urging that the deferred enforced departure be further extended.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (``AAADC'') 
informed the subcommittee that the majority of the 2,000+ 
original PGEs have already been able to become permanent 
residents through employer-sponsored visas and other means. 
Remaining are 54 families containing a few hundred individuals 
who probably do not have any means to adjust their status.
    Representative Rahall's bill would grant the PGEs permanent 
resident status. It was originally written as a public bill, 
not a private bill. Pursuant to an agreement between the 
Judiciary Commit-

tee and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), upon 
a

vote of the subcommittee to request a report from I.N.S. any 
depor-

tation of the individual or individuals named in the bill will 
be stayed until the Congress has made a decision on action. The 
chairman of the subcommittee requested that the bill be 
introduced as a private bill so that the subcommittee could 
vote to request INS comment and stay the deportation of these 
individuals while proceeding with caution and investigating the 
merits of each PGE's case. Also, because of the documentary 
requirements of a private bill, the subcommittee was provided 
with detailed information on each of the beneficiaries, and 
confirmed that all administrative and judicial remedies had 
been pursued.
    The remaining PGEs are primarily Palestinian. They have 
Jordanian passports and can be deported to Jordan. However, 
this does not necessarily mean they have ever resided in Jordan 
(which gives passports to all Palestinians). Based on 
information given to the committee by the AAADC, most were 
either born in Kuwait or have spent the last few decades of 
their lives there. The few non-Palestinians are Indian, 
Filipino, Pakistani and Egyptian. They also are reported to 
have been born in Kuwait or have been there for at least a 
decade. Many of the PGEs have American-born children.

                        Committee Consideration

    On March 1, 2000, the Subcommittee on Immigration and 
Claims met in open session and ordered favorably reported the 
bill H.R. 3646, without amendment by voice vote, a quorum being 
present.
    On March 30, 2000, the Committee on the Judiciary met in 
open session and ordered reported favorably the bill H.R. 3646 
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.

               Congressional Budget Office 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. This is based on the Congressional Budget Office cost 
estimate on H.R. 3646. That Congressional Budget Office cost 
estimate follows:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, April 12, 2000.
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 H.R. 3646, a bill for 
the relief of certain Persian Gulf evacuees.
    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,
                                  Dan L. Crippen, Director.

Enclosure

cc:
        Honorable John Conyers Jr.
        Ranking Democratic Member
H.R. 3646--A bill for the relief of certain Persian Gulf evacuees.
    H.R. 3646 would grant permanent United States residence to 
150 individuals who were evacuated from Kuwait during the 
Persian Gulf war; these people have resided in the United 
States since 1990. CBO estimates that enacting this legislation 
would have no significant impact on the federal budget. H.R. 
3646 could have a 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 
Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 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 Immigration and Naturalization Service provided reports 
to the committee on each of the 150 individuals listed in H.R. 
3646. The reports have been placed in the legislative file on 
the bill.

                                                                  

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