S.Amdt. 4604

SA 4604. Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Reed, and Mr.
McCain) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the
bill S. 2943, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle B of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1216. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT STATUS FOR CERTAIN AFGHANS.

(a) Prioritization of Applications by the Chief of
Mission.--Section 602(b)(2)(D)(i) of the Afghan Allies
Protection Act of 2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended by
adding at the end ``In processing applications under this
paragraph, the Chief of Mission shall prioritize, to the
maximum extent practicable, applications for those aliens who
have experienced or are experiencing an ongoing and credible
serious threat as a consequence of the alien's employment by
the United States Government.''.
(b) Numerical Limitations.--Section 602(b)(3)(F) of such
Act is amended--
(1) in the subparagraph heading, by striking ``and 2017''
and inserting ``2017, and 2018'';
(2) by striking ``December 31, 2016;'' each place it
appears and inserting ``December 31, 2017;''; and

[[Page S3726]]

(3) in the matter preceding clause (i)--
(A) by striking ``exhausted,,'' and inserting
``exhausted,''; and
(B) by striking ``7,000'' and inserting ``9,500''.
(c) Report.--Section 602(b)(14) of such Act is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of
this paragraph,'' and inserting ``Not later than December 31,
2016, and annually thereafter through January 31, 2021,'';
and
(2) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ``under this
section;'' and inserting ``under subclause (I) or (II)(bb) of
paragraph (2)(A)(ii);''.
(d) Plan to Bring Afghan SIV Program to a Responsible
End.--Section 602(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(17) Plan to bring afghan siv program to a responsible
end.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the
earlier of the date of the enactment of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 or March 1, 2018, the
Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Commander of
United States Central Command, and the Commander Resolute
Support/United States Forces - Afghanistan, shall submit a
report to the appropriate committees of Congress that details
a strategy for bringing the program authorized under this
subsection to provide special immigrant status to certain
Afghans to a responsible end by or before December 31, 2018.
``(B) Content.--The report required under subparagraph (A)
shall--
``(i) identify the number of visas that would be required
to meet existing or reasonably projected commitments, taking
into account the need to support a continued United States
Government presence in Afghanistan;
``(ii) provide an estimate of how long such visas should
remain available;
``(iii) assess whether other existing programs would be
adequate to incentivize the continued recruitment, retention,
and protection of critical Afghan employees, after the
program authorized under this subsection expires; and
``(iv) describe potential alternative programs that could
be considered if existing programs are inadequate.''.
(e) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland
Security shall submit to Congress a report on the frequency,
duration, and reasons recipients of these visas from
Afghanistan travel back to Afghanistan.
______