[House Report 107-129]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



107th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    107-129

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



 
  FOR THE RELIEF OF RITA MIREMBE REVELL (A.K.A. MARGARET RITA MIREMBE)

                                _______
                                

  July 10, 2001.--Referred to the Private Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 560]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (S. 560) for the relief of Rita Mirembe Revell (a.k.a. 
Margaret Rita Mirembe), having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     1
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     1
Hearings.........................................................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     2
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     2
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     2
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     3
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     3
Agency Views.....................................................     3
Markup Transcript................................................     4

                          Purpose and Summary

    S. 560 would allow Rita Mirembe Revell (a.k.a. Margaret 
Rita Mirembe) to become a permanent resident of the United 
States.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    Rita is an orphan from Uganda currently in the United 
States on a student visa. She has lived with Dennis Revell and 
Maureen Reagan since the age of 8. Mr. Revell and Ms. Reagan 
began to financially support the Daughters of Charity 
orphanages in 1988. Mr. Revell and Ms. Reagan began financially 
supporting Rita when she was 3 years old. After being informed 
of the near impossibility of adopting Rita due to Ugandan law, 
it was arranged to bring Rita to the U.S. on a student visa 
instead. In February of 2000, the Ugandan government relaxed 
the process for adoption of children from that country. 
Unfortunately, Ms. Reagan has been fighting malignant melanoma 
and cannot even fulfill the relaxed requirements now in place. 
Mr. Revell and Ms. Reagan would have adopted Rita many years 
ago, given the opportunity. Ms. Reagan's medical condition 
prohibits her from ever traveling to Uganda to adopt Rita. The 
only way Mr. Revell and Ms. Reagan can assure that Rita remains 
a part of their family in the United States is through a 
private bill.
    The combination of Uganda's adoption restrictions early in 
their relationship with Rita and Ms. Reagan's subsequent 
cancers have made it virtually impossible for Rita to be 
adopted under the adoption laws of Uganda and in accordance 
with U.S. immigration law. But for these factors, Rita would be 
the adopted daughter of the only two people she has ever known 
to be her parents.
    The uniqueness standard and extreme hardship standard for 
approval of private bills have been met through the combined 
facts of: 1) Ugandan adoption law prohibiting adoption of Rita 
prior to February 2000; 2) Ms. Reagan's medical condition being 
prohibitive of fulfilling an adoption now or at anytime in the 
future; 3) Mr. Revell and Ms. Reagan's total support of Rita 
since the age of 3; and 4) the fact Rita has lived with Mr. 
Revell and Ms. Reagan since the age of 8 and they are the only 
parents she has ever known.

                                Hearings

    The Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims held 
no hearings on S. 560.

                        Committee Consideration

    On June 6, 2001, the Committee on the Judiciary met in open 
session and ordered reported favorably the bill S. 560 without 
amendment by voice vote, a quorum being present.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 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.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    S. 560 does not authorize funding. Therefore, clause 3(c) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 
inapplicable.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 3(c)(2) of House Rule XIII 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(c)(3) 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 S. 560. That Congressional Budget Office cost 
estimate follows:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, June 22, 2001.
Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., 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. 560, an act for the 
relief of Rita Mirembe Revell (a.k.a. Margaret Rita Mirembe).
    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 Member
S. 560--An act for the relief of Rita Mirembe Revell (a.k.a. Margaret 
        Rita Mirembe).
    S. 560 would grant permanent U.S. residence to Rita Mirembe 
Revell. CBO estimates that enacting this legislation would have 
no significant impact on the Federal budget. S. 560 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 
Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to rule XIII, clause 3(d)(1) 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. 560 are as follows:

 MEMORANDUM OF INFORMATION FROM IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE 
                            FILES RE: S. 560

    The beneficiary, whose correct name is, Margaret Ritah 
Mirembe, also known as Rita Mirembe Revell, a native and 
citizen of Uganda, was born on an unknown month and day in 
1985, in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. She resides with her 
guardians, Mr. Dennis Revell and Ms. Maureen Reagan, in Granite 
Bay, California. She is currently a freshman at a private 
parochial high school in Sacramento. She has no relatives in 
the United States. The beneficiary was abandoned in Kampala at 
about the age of two and was raised in an orphanage until 
February 12, 1994 when the interested parties were granted 
custody as her guardians. May 14, 1985 was established as the 
beneficiary's birth date based on information available from 
the orphanage. She was admitted to the United States on 
February 16, 1994 as a student and is currently in status. The 
interested parties have filed a petition to adopt the 
beneficiary in the Placer County Superior Court of California.
    Mr. Dennis Revell, a native and citizen of the United 
States, was born on December 24, 1952. He resides in Granite 
Bay with his wife and the beneficiary. He obtained a Juris 
doctor from Western State University in Fullerton, California, 
and is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of 
Revell Communications, a public relations corporation, earning 
about $52,800 a year.
    Ms. Maureen Reagan, a native and citizen of the United 
States, was born on January 4, 1941. She is the daughter of 
former President Ronald Reagan. She attended Marymount College 
in Arlington, Virginia. Ms. Reagan is a well-known national 
lecturer, political analyst, talk show host, best selling 
author, and advocate for the advancement of women, research and 
education on Alzeihmer's disease and Melanoma. Ms. Reagan is 
currently undergoing cancer treatment and is convalescing at 
home. She earns about $253,000 a year.
    The interested parties were married on April 25, 1981 in 
Los Angeles, California. They claim assets of about $1,733,225 
in real estate holdings, savings, investments and personal 
property, and liabilities of about $483,500 a year. There are 
no natural children born of the marriage or any previous 
marriages.
    All national agency checks, as well as fingerprint checks 
for the beneficiary and interested parties were negative, with 
the exception of Ms. Maureen Reagan who has an FBI record 
because she is the daughter of former President Reagan. This 
record was also cleared.

                           Markup Transcript



                            BUSINESS MEETING

                        WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2001

                  House of Representatives,
                                Committee on the Judiciary,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:07 a.m., in 
Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. F. James 
Sensenbrenner [Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
    Chairman Sensenbrenner. The Committee will be in order. The 
Chair would like to announce what our game plan is for today.
    Mr. Conyers has got some back-to-back speeches at noon, so 
we will go through the schedule in the order which it appears, 
with one exception, until noon, and then we will recess for an 
hour and a half for lunch, and I would ask the Members to be 
back promptly at 1:30. The exception to the schedule, again, at 
Mr. Conyers' request, is that we will move H.R. 1407, which is 
the airline antitrust bill, up third on the agenda, ahead of 
the two patent bills. So we will do the two private bills, the 
airline bill, the two patent bills, the flag amendment and then 
the DOJ Authorization Act, and we will stay here until we are 
done with this complete schedule.
    So the Chair now recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration 
and Claims, to make a unanimous consent request on two private 
bills. And without objection, the unanimous consents will be 
considered en bloc.
    Mr. Gekas. Mr. Chairman, the Subcommittee on Immigration 
and Claims reports favorably the bill S. 560, and moves its 
favorable recommendation to the full House.
    Chairman Sensenbrenner. Would you make a unanimous consent 
request on the other one, too.
    Mr. Gekas. And on the similar request on H.R. 807, and ask 
unanimous consent that they be considered together en bloc.
    Chairman Sensenbrenner. Without objection, so ordered.
    [S. 560 follows:]
    
    
    Chairman Sensenbrenner. Generally, we have dealt with 
private bills by unanimous consent. Is there any objection, 
while we do not have a reporting quorum present, without 
objection, the previous question is ordered on both bills 
pending the arrival of a reporting quorum.
    Hearing none, so ordered.
    The Chair now notes the presence of a reporting quorum. The 
Committee now returns to the pending unfinished business, upon 
which the previous question was ordered on H.R. 807 and S. 560, 
which have been considered en bloc.
    The previous question has already been ordered. All of 
those in favor of reporting the bill favorably will signify by 
saying aye.
    Those opposed, no.
    The ayes appear to have it. The ayes have it, and the 
motion to report favorably is agreed to. All Members will be 
entitled to place statements in the record on the two private 
bills.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Mr. Chairman?
    Chairman Sensenbrenner. For what purpose does the 
gentlewoman from Texas seek recognition?
    Ms. Jackson Lee. To strike the last word.
    Chairman Sensenbrenner. We have no pending question before 
the Committee.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Well, parliamentary inquiry. I wanted to 
comment----
    Chairman Sensenbrenner. State your inquiry.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. The inquiry is on bill S. 560. That is a 
private bill and the bill that we just passed, which was 
another private bill, and I am losing the number right now.
    Chairman Sensenbrenner. H.R. 807 is the number.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. 807, correct. When you called it up, I was 
delayed, and I want to make sure that the support, in addition 
to one's vote, can be acknowledged by submitting statements 
into the record.
    Chairman Sensenbrenner. The Chair just said that without 
objection all Members may insert statements in the record 
relative to the two private bills just----
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Then I add my support for those bills and 
will submit statements into the record.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Jackson Lee follows:]
       Prepared Statement of the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, a 
           Representative in Congress From the State of Texas
    Thank you Mr. Chairman. I support private bill S. 560 which will 
provide Rita Mirembe Revell with lawful permanent resident status. The 
unique facts of this case have clearly shown that the only way that Mr. 
Revell and Ms. Reagan can assure Rita remains a part of their family in 
the United States is through a private bill.
    Rita Mirembe Revell is an orphan from Uganda currently in the 
United States. Mr. Revell and Ms. Reagan specifically began to 
financially support Rita when she was three years old. Mr. Revell and 
Ms. Reagan intended to adopt Rita; however, due to rigid adoption law 
in Uganda, they were unable to do so. Nonetheless, Rita came to the 
United States on a temporary visa and has lived with Dennis Revell and 
Maureen Reagan (daughter of Ronald Reagan) since the age of eight.
    In February of 2000, the Ugandan government relaxed the process for 
adoption of children. However, Ms. Reagan has been fighting malignant 
melanoma and cannot even fulfill the relaxed requirements now in place 
since she is unable to travel to Uganda.
    The combination of Uganda's adoption restrictions early in their 
relationship with Rita and Ms. Reagan's subsequent cancer have made it 
virtually impossible for Rita to be adopted under the adoption laws of 
Uganda and in accordance with US immigration law. The only way Mr. 
Revel and Ms. Reagan can assure that Rita remains a part of their 
family in the United States is through this private bill.
    Thank you Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance of my time.

    Thank you.

                                  
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