Honoring Our Promises through Expedition for Afghan SIVs Act of 2021

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3385 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 12, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary AN ACT To waive the requirement to undergo a medical exam for aliens who are otherwise eligible for special immigrant status under the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3385.RFS H3385 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 3385 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Our Prom- 2 ises through Expedition for Afghan SIVs Act of 2021’’ 3 or the ‘‘HOPE for Afghan SIVs Act of 2021’’. 4 SEC. 2. WAIVER OF MEDICAL EXAMINATION FOR AFGHAN 5 ALLIES. 6 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of State and 7 the Secretary of Homeland Security may jointly issue a 8 blanket waiver of the requirement that aliens described in 9 section 602(b)(2) of the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 10 2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) undergo a medical examination 11 under section 221(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 12 Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(d)), or any other applicable provision 13 of law, prior to issuance of an immigrant visa or admission 14 to the United States. 15 (b) DURATION.—A waiver issued under subsection 16 (a) shall remain in effect for a period not to exceed 1 year, 17 and, subject to subsection (g), may be extended by the 18 Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security 19 for additional periods, each of which shall not exceed 1 20 year. 21 (c) NOTIFICATION.—Upon exercising the waiver au- 22 thority under subsection (a), or the authority to extend 23 a waiver under subsection (b), the Secretary of State and 24 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall notify the appro- 25 priate congressional committees. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3385.RFS H3385 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 3385 RFS (d) REQUIREMENT FOR MEDICAL EXAMINATION 1 AFTER ADMISSION.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 3 Security, in consultation with the Secretary of 4 Health and Human Services, shall establish proce- 5 dures to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, 6 that any alien who receives a waiver of the medical 7 examination requirement under this section, com- 8 pletes such an examination not later than 30 days 9 after the date on which such alien is admitted to the 10 United States. 11 (2) CONDITIONAL BASIS FOR STATUS.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 13 other provision of law, an alien who receives a 14 waiver of the medical examination requirement 15 under this section shall be considered, at the 16 time of admission to the United States, as an 17 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence 18 on a conditional basis. 19 (B) REMOVAL OF CONDITIONS.—The Sec- 20 retary of Homeland Security shall remove the 21 conditional basis of the alien’s status upon the 22 Secretary’s confirmation that such alien has 23 completed the medical examination and is not 24 inadmissible under section 212(a)(1)(A) of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3385.RFS H3385 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 3385 RFS Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1 1182(a)(1)(A)). 2 (3) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 3 date on which waiver authority under subsection (a) 4 is exercised or such waiver is extended under sub- 5 section (b), as applicable, the Secretary of Homeland 6 Security, in consultation with the Secretary of 7 Health and Human Services, shall submit to the ap- 8 propriate congressional committees a report on the 9 status of medical examinations required under para- 10 graph (1), including— 11 (A) the number of pending and completed 12 examinations; and 13 (B) the number of aliens who have failed 14 to complete the medical examination within the 15 30-day period after the date of such aliens’ ad- 16 mission. 17 (e) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 18 The term ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ 19 means— 20 (1) the Committees on Armed Services of the 21 House of Representatives and of the Senate; 22 (2) the Committees on the Judiciary of the 23 House of Representatives and of the Senate; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3385.RFS H3385 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 3385 RFS (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 1 House of Representatives and the Committee on 2 Foreign Relations of the Senate; and 3 (4) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 4 House of Representatives and the Committee on 5 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 6 Senate. 7 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 8 may be construed to prevent the Secretary of State, the 9 Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense, 10 or the Secretary of Health and Human Services from 11 adopting appropriate measures to prevent the spread of 12 communicable diseases, including COVID–19, to the 13 United States. 14 (g) SUNSET.—The authority under subsections (a) 15 and (b) expires on the date that is 3 years after the date 16 of enactment of this Act. 17 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 18 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 19 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 20 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 21 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 22 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 23 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3385.RFS H3385 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 3385 RFS vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 1 vote on passage. 2 Passed the House of Representatives June 29, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3385.RFS H3385 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS