S.Amdt. 2599

SA 2599. Mr. WARNER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2025 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 H of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1095. ADMISSION OF ESSENTIAL SCIENTISTS AND TECHNICAL
EXPERTS TO PROMOTE AND PROTECT NATIONAL
SECURITY INNOVATION BASE.

(a) Special Immigrant Status.--In accordance with the
procedures established under subsection (f)(1), and subject
to subsection (c)(1), the Secretary of Homeland Security may
provide an alien described in subsection (b) (and the spouse
and each child of the alien if accompanying or following to
join the alien) with the status of a special immigrant under
section 101(a)(27) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)), if the alien--
(1) submits a classification petition under section
204(a)(1)(G)(i) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(G)(i)); and
(2) is otherwise eligible to receive an immigrant visa and
is otherwise admissible to the United States for lawful
permanent residence.
(b) Aliens Described.--An alien is described in this
subsection if--
(1) the alien--
(A) is a current or past participant in research funded by
the Department of Defense;
(B) is a current or past employee or contracted employee of
the Department of Defense;
(C) earned a master's, doctoral, or professional degree
from an accredited United States institution of higher
education (as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)), or completed a
graduate fellowship or graduate medical education at an
accredited United States institution of higher education,
that entailed research in a field of importance to the
national security of the United States, as determined by the
Secretary of Defense;
(D) is a current employee of, or has a documented job offer
from, a company that develops new technologies or cutting-
edge research that contributes to the national security of
the United States, as determined by the Secretary of Defense;
or
(E) is a founder or co-founder of a United States-based
company that develops new technologies or cutting-edge
research that contributes to the national security of the
United States, as determined by the Secretary of Defense; and
(2) the Secretary of Defense issues a written statement to
the Secretary of Homeland Security confirming that the alien
possesses scientific or technical expertise that will
contribute to the national security of the United States.
(c) Numerical Limitations.--
(1) In general.--The total number of principal aliens who
may be provided special immigrant status under this section
may not exceed--
(A) 10 in each of fiscal years 2025 through 2034; and
(B) 100 in fiscal year 2035 and each fiscal year
thereafter.
(2) Exclusion from numerical limitation.--Aliens provided
special immigrant status under this section shall not be
counted against the numerical limitations under sections
201(d), 202(a), and 203(b)(4) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(d), 1152(a), and 1153(b)(4)).
(d) Defense Competition for Scientists and Technical
Experts.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall develop
and implement a process to select, on a competitive basis
from among individuals described in subsection (b),
individuals for recommendation to the Secretary of Homeland
Security for special immigrant status described in subsection
(a).
(e) Authorities.--In carrying out this section, the
Secretary of Defense shall authorize appropriate personnel of
the Department of Defense to use all personnel and management
authorities available to the Department, including the
personnel and management authorities provided to the science
and technology reinvention laboratories, the Major Range and
Test Facility Base (as defined in section 196(i) of title 10,
United States Code), and the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency.
(f) Procedures.--Not later than 360 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security
and the Secretary of Defense shall jointly establish policies
and procedures implementing the provisions in this section,
which shall include procedures for--
(1) processing of petitions for classification submitted
under subsection (a)(1) and applications for an immigrant
visa or adjustment of status, as applicable; and
(2) thorough processing of any required security
clearances.
(g) Fees.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
establish a fee--
(1) to be charged and collected to process an application
filed under this section; and

[[Page S4938]]

(2) that is set at a level that will ensure recovery of the
full costs of such processing and any additional costs
associated with the administration of the fees collected.
(h) Implementation Report Required.--Not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Defense
shall jointly submit to the appropriate committees of
Congress a report that includes--
(1) a plan for implementing the authorities provided under
this section; and
(2) identification of any additional authorities that may
be required to assist the Secretaries in fully implementing
this section.
(i) Program Evaluation and Report.--
(1) Evaluation.--The Comptroller General of the United
States shall conduct an evaluation of the competitive program
and special immigrant program described in subsections (a)
through (g).
(2) Report.--Not later than October 1, 2028, the
Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress a report on the results of the
evaluation conducted under paragraph (1).
(j) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on
the Judiciary of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on
the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
(2) National security innovation base.--The term ``National
Security Innovation Base'' means the network of persons and
organizations, including Federal agencies, institutions of
higher education, federally funded research and development
centers, defense industrial base entities, nonprofit
organizations, commercial entities, and venture capital firms
that are engaged in the military and non-military research,
development, funding, and production of innovative
technologies that support the national security of the United
States.
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