S.Amdt. 466

SA 466. Ms. McSALLY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
her to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2020 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 title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1290. IMPROVING ACCESS TO COUNTRY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
RELATING TO ASYLUM CLAIMS.

(a) Annual Country Conditions Report.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of State, in coordination
with the Secretary of Defense shall compile an annual report
that objectively identifies, for each country from which a
national submitted an application for asylum under section
208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158)
during the most recent fiscal year, any conditions within
such country that would support a claim that a national of
such country would be unable or unwilling to return to such
country due to a well-founded fear of persecution on account
of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular
social group, or political opinion.
(2) Personnel.--The Secretary of State shall ensure that
sufficient personnel in the Department of State are available
to compile the report required under paragraph (1).
(b) Review of Credible Fear Claims and Asylum
Applications.--
(1) In general.--The Director of U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services shall provide all credible fear claims
and asylum applications to the Secretary of State for review.
(2) Additional information.--The Chief Immigration Judge of
the Executive Office for Immigration Review or the Director
of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may request that
the Secretary of State provide information pertaining to the
conditions in the country of origin for consideration in
asylum processing, including examples that do or do not meet
asylum standards. The Secretary of State shall respond to the
judge or Director not later than 14 days after receiving a
request under this paragraph.
(c) Use of Country-specific Information Received From the
Secretary of State.--Asylum officers and immigration judges
shall consider any information compiled or provided by the
Secretary of State under subsections (a) and (b) before
making a determination regarding credible fear claims in
conjunction with an application for asylum under section 208
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158).
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