[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5982 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5982
To provide visa availability for the Government Employee Immigrant Visa
program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 18, 2023
Ms. Kamlager-Dove (for herself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the
following bill
October 25, 2023
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide visa availability for the Government Employee Immigrant Visa
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 ``Granting Recognition to Accomplished
Talented Employees For Unwavering Loyalty Act'' or the ``GRATEFUL
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In 1952, with the enactment of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), Congress established
an immigrant visa program to reward foreign nationals who are
United States Government employees for their service to the
United States (referred to in this Act as the ``Government
Employee Immigrant Visa program'').
(2) For 71 years, the Government Employee Immigrant Visa
program has allowed foreign nationals with at least 15 years of
exceptional service to the United States to immigrate to the
United States with their families.
(3) Such foreign national employees of the United States
Government are the bulwark of United States foreign policy,
risking their lives year after year through civil unrest,
terrorism, natural disasters, and war.
(4) The work of such foreign nationals--
(A) ensures the safety and well-being of United
States citizens;
(B) provides security and logistics for visiting
delegations; and
(C) supports United States Government operations
abroad.
(5) Such foreign nationals include employees of the
Department of State, the United States Agency for International
Development, the Department of Defense, the Department of
Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of
Commerce, and the Department of Agriculture.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United
States should preserve the immigrant visa program for foreign nationals
who are employees of the United States Government abroad or of the
American Institute in Taiwan, and who have provided exceptional service
over a long term to the United States, by providing a dedicated
allocation of visas for such employees and their immediate family
members when visas are not immediately available in the corresponding
visa category.
SEC. 3. VISA AVAILABILITY FOR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE IMMIGRANT VISA
PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Beginning in fiscal year 2024, subject to
subsection (b), visas shall be made available to a special immigrant
described in section 101(a)(27)(D) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D)) if a visa is not immediately available
for issuance to the special immigrant under section 203(b)(4) of that
Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(4)).
(b) Numerical Limitations.--
(1) Fiscal year 2024.--For fiscal year 2024, not more than
3,500 visas shall be made available under subsection (a).
(2) Subsequent fiscal years.--For fiscal year 2025 and each
fiscal year thereafter, not more than 3,000 visas shall be made
available under subsection (a).
(c) Temporary Reduction in Diversity Visas.--Section 203(d)(2) of
the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central America Relief Act (8 U.S.C. 1151
note; Public Law 105-100) is amended--
(1) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
``(2) In no case shall the reduction under paragraph (1) for a
fiscal year exceed the amount by which--
``(A) the sum of--
``(i) one-half of the total number of individuals
described in subclauses (I), (II), (III), and (IV) of
section 309(c)(5)(C)(i) of the Illegal Immigration
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8
U.S.C. 1101 note; Public Law 104-208) who have adjusted
their status to that of aliens lawfully admitted for
permanent residence under section 202 of the Nicaraguan
Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (Public Law
105-100; 8 U.S.C. 1255 note) as of the end of the
previous fiscal year; and
``(ii) the total number of individuals described in
section 101(a)(27)(D) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D)) for whom
visas shall be made available for the applicable fiscal
year under section 3(b) of the Granting Recognition to
Accomplished Talented Employees For Unwavering Loyalty
Act; exceeds
``(B) the total of the reductions in available visas under
this subsection for all previous fiscal years.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(3)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in a fiscal year following a
fiscal year for which the total number of aliens described in
subparagraph (B) is zero.
``(B) For a fiscal year, the total number of aliens described in
this subparagraph is the total number of individuals described in
section 101(a)(27)(D) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(27)(D)) who have been issued visas during the previous fiscal
year under the Granting Recognition to Accomplished Talented Employees
For Unwavering Loyalty Act.
``(C) Nothing in this paragraph may be construed--
``(i) to repeal, modify, or render permanently inapplicable
paragraph (1); or
``(ii) to prevent the offsetting of the number of visas
described in that paragraph for the purpose of providing visa
availability for aliens described in subparagraph (B).
``(4) In the event that the number of visas available for a fiscal
year under section 201(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1151(e)) is reduced to a number fewer than 50,000, not fewer
than 3,000 visas shall be made available for individuals described in
section 3(a) of the Granting Recognition to Accomplished Talented
Employees For Unwavering Loyalty Act.''.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section or the
amendments made by this section may be construed to modify the number
of visas available under section 203(b)(4) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(4)) to special immigrants described
in section 101(a)(27)(D) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D)).
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