[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3433 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3433
To require a strategy to support nationals of Afghanistan who are
applicants for special immigrant visas or for referral to the United
States Refugee Admissions Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 17, 2021
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Graham, Ms. Ernst, and Mr. Cardin)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require a strategy to support nationals of Afghanistan who are
applicants for special immigrant visas or for referral to the United
States Refugee Admissions Program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Honor Our Commitment Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the United States should increase
support for nationals of Afghanistan who aided the United States
mission in Afghanistan during the past 20 years and are now under
threat from the Taliban, specifically such nationals of Afghanistan, in
Afghanistan or third countries, who are applicants for--
(1) special immigrant visas under the Afghan Allies
Protection Act of 2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note; Public Law 111-8)
or section 1059 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note; Public Law 109-163); or
(2) referral to the United States Refugee Admissions
Program as refugees (as defined in section 101(a)(42) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42))),
including as Priority 2 refugees.
SEC. 3. STRATEGY TO SUPPORT CERTAIN NATIONALS OF AFGHANISTAN.
(a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the
Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and
agencies, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
strategy for the safe processing abroad of nationals of Afghanistan
described in section 2.
(b) Elements.--The strategy required by subsection (a) shall
include a detailed plan--
(1) to prioritize for evacuation from Afghanistan nationals
of Afghanistan described in section 2;
(2) to provide for security checks for such nationals of
Afghanistan, which--
(A) shall be conducted remotely before departure
from Afghanistan; and
(B) shall not take the place of post-departure
security screening;
(3) to facilitate, after such security checks, the rapid
departure from Afghanistan by air charter and land passage of
such nationals of Afghanistan who satisfy the requirements of
such security checks;
(4) to provide letters of support, diplomatic notes, and
other documentation, as appropriate, to ease transit for such
nationals of Afghanistan;
(5) to engage governments of relevant countries to better
facilitate evacuation of such nationals of Afghanistan;
(6) to disseminate frequent updates to such nationals of
Afghanistan and relevant nongovernmental organizations with
respect to evacuation from Afghanistan;
(7) to identify and establish sufficient locations outside
Afghanistan and the United States that will accept such
nationals of Afghanistan during case processing (including
during the processes of security checks and establishing the
eligibility of such nationals of Afghanistan before their
travel to the United States, which shall include any in-person
interview required for full adjudication of a case and, in the
case of a special immigrant visa, issuance of such visa) for--
(A) the special immigrant visas described in
paragraph (1) of section 2; or
(B) referral to, and acceptance for resettlement in
the United States by, the United States Refugee
Admissions Program described in paragraph (2) of that
section;
(8) to identify necessary resource, personnel, and
equipment requirements to increase capacity to better support
such nationals of Afghanistan and reduce their application
processing times, while ensuring strict and necessary security
checks, including, to the extent practicable, by allowing such
nationals of Afghanistan to receive referrals to the United
States Refugee Admissions Program while they are still in
Afghanistan so as to initiate application processing more
expeditiously; and
(9) to provide for relocation outside Afghanistan to third
countries for nationals of Afghanistan described in section 2
who are unable to successfully complete security checks and
application processing to establish eligibility to travel to
the United States.
(c) Form.--The strategy required by subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
SEC. 4. MONTHLY REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and monthly thereafter until December 31, 2022,
the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland
Security and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and
agencies, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
report on efforts to support nationals of Afghanistan described in
section 2.
(b) Elements.--Each report required by subsection (a) shall include
the following:
(1) The number of nationals of Afghanistan referred to the
United States Refugee Admissions Program as Priority 1 and
Priority 2 refugees since August 29, 2021.
(2) An assessment of whether each such refugee--
(A) remains in Afghanistan; or
(B) is outside Afghanistan.
(3) With respect to nationals of Afghanistan who have
applied for referral to the United States Refugee Program, the
number of applications that--
(A) have been approved;
(B) have been denied; and
(C) are pending adjudication.
(4) The number of nationals of Afghanistan who have pending
applications for special immigrant visas described in section
2(1), disaggregated by the special immigrant visa processing
steps completed with respect to such individuals.
(5) A description of the measures taken to implement the
strategy under section 3.
SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.
In this Act, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
the Judiciary, the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs; and the Committee on Armed Services of
the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the
Judiciary, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the
Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.
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