Speech #1130112155

Mr. Speaker. H.R. 5195 makes available through the end of calendar year 2014 1.000 visas for the Special Immigrant Visa program created by the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009. The 1.000 visas are in addition to 3.000 that Congress already allocated for fiscal year 2014. The main eligibility requirement. Mr. Speaker. to receive a Special Immigrant Visa under this program is that the Afghan principal applicant must have worked for or on behalf of the U.S. Government for at least 1 year in Afghanistan. The State Department has indicated that it will issue all 3.000 of their originally allocated visas by the beginning of August. and the Department currently has around 300 approved applications simply waiting for additional visas to be allocated. That number will rise as State continues to process applications over the next few months. We must remember that simply because a visa cap is reached does not mean that Congress must automatically allocate additional visas. In fact. Congress rarely does so in immigration programs. I understand that proponents of this legislation claim that individuals waiting on a visa are in harms way due to their work for the United States Government and the drawdown of U.S. forces in the region. but as with any immigration program. Mr. Speaker. we must also be cognizant of our duty to ensure the safety and security of the United States by making sure that anyone issued a visa is not a threat to our public safety or national security. So when there are calls for this program to be extended once again before the balance of fiscal year 2015. the Judiciary Committee will be conducting oversight over the program. Such oversight will allow us to make educated decisions on how many. if any. special immigrant visas should be allocated for fiscal year 15. I look forward to that oversight and urge my colleagues to support this bill that we have under consideration. I reserve the balance of my time.