National Security Innovation Pathway Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7256 To establish a process for admitting essential scientists and technical experts into the United States to promote and protect the National Security Innovation Base. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 18, 2020 Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a process for admitting essential scientists and technical experts into the United States to promote and protect the National Security Innovation Base. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Security In- 4 novation Pathway Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7256.IH H7256 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7256 IH SEC. 2. ADMISSION OF ESSENTIAL SCIENTISTS AND TECH- 1 NICAL EXPERTS TO PROMOTE AND PROTECT 2 THE NATIONAL SECURITY INNOVATION BASE. 3 (a) SPECIAL IMMIGRANT STATUS.—In accordance 4 with the procedures established under subsection (f)(1), 5 and subject to subsection (c)(1), the Secretary of Home- 6 land Security may provide an alien described in subsection 7 (b) (and the spouse and children of the alien if accom- 8 panying or following to join the alien) with the status of 9 a special immigrant under section 101(a)(27) of the Immi- 10 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)), if the 11 alien— 12 (1) submits a classification petition under sec- 13 tion 204(a)(1)(G)(i) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 14 1154(a)(1)(G)(i)); and 15 (2) is otherwise eligible to receive an immigrant 16 visa and is otherwise admissible to the United States 17 for permanent residence. 18 (b) ALIENS DESCRIBED.—An alien is described in 19 this subsection if— 20 (1) the alien— 21 (A) is employed by a United States em- 22 ployer and engaged in work to promote and 23 protect the National Security Innovation Base; 24 (B) is engaged in basic or applied re- 25 search, funded by the Department of Defense, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7256.IH H7256 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7256 IH through a United States institution of higher 1 education (as defined in section 101 of the 2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 3 1001)); or 4 (C) possesses scientific or technical exper- 5 tise that will advance the development of crit- 6 ical technologies identified in the National De- 7 fense Strategy or the National Defense Science 8 and Technology Strategy, required by section 9 218 of the John S. McCain National Defense 10 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public 11 Law 115–232; 132 Stat. 1679); and 12 (2) the Secretary of Defense issues a written 13 statement to the Secretary of Homeland Security 14 confirming that the admission of the alien is essen- 15 tial to advancing the research, development, testing, 16 or evaluation of critical technologies described in 17 paragraph (1)(C) or otherwise serves national secu- 18 rity interests. 19 (c) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The total number of prin- 21 cipal aliens who may be provided special immigrant 22 status under this section may not exceed— 23 (A) 100 in fiscal year 2021; 24 (B) 200 in fiscal year 2022; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7256.IH H7256 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7256 IH (C) 300 in fiscal year 2023; 1 (D) 400 in fiscal year 2024; and 2 (E) 500 in fiscal year 2025 and each fiscal 3 year thereafter. 4 (2) EXCLUSION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITA- 5 TIONS.—Aliens provided special immigrant status 6 under this section shall not be counted against the 7 numerical limitations under sections 201(d), 202(a), 8 and 203(b)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality 9 Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(d), 1152(a), and 1153(b(4)). 10 (d) DEFENSE COMPETITION FOR SCIENTISTS AND 11 TECHNICAL EXPERTS.—Not later than 180 days after the 12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 13 shall develop and implement a process to select, on a com- 14 petitive basis from among individuals described in section 15 (b), individuals for recommendation to the Secretary of 16 Homeland Security for special immigrant status described 17 in subsection (a). 18 (e) AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out this section, the 19 Secretary of Defense shall authorize appropriate personnel 20 of the Department of Defense to use all personnel and 21 management authorities available to the Department, in- 22 cluding the personnel and management authorities pro- 23 vided to the science and technology reinvention labora- 24 tories, the Major Range and Test Facility Base (as de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7256.IH H7256 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7256 IH fined in 196(i) of title 10, United States Code), and the 1 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. 2 (f) PROCEDURES AND FEES.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 5 retary of Homeland Security and Secretary of De- 6 fense shall jointly establish policies and procedures 7 implementing the provisions in this section, which 8 shall include procedures for— 9 (A) processing of petitions for classifica- 10 tion submitted under subsection (a)(1) and ap- 11 plications for an immigrant visa or adjustment 12 of status, as applicable; and 13 (B) thorough processing of any required 14 security clearances. 15 (2) FEES.— 16 (A) NATIONAL SECURITY INNOVATION FEE 17 ACCOUNT.—There is established in the general 18 fund of the Treasury, a separate account which 19 shall be known as the ‘‘National Security Inno- 20 vation Fee Account’’. 21 (B) FEE AMOUNT.—For each petition for 22 classification submitted under subsection (a)(1), 23 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall col- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7256.IH H7256 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7256 IH lect, in addition to any required processing fee, 1 a fee of $2,000. 2 (C) USE OF FEES.—Notwithstanding any 3 other provision of law, of each fee collected 4 under subparagraph (B)— 5 (i) 75 percent shall be deposited into 6 the general fund of the Treasury; and 7 (ii) 25 percent shall be deposited as 8 offsetting receipts into the National Secu- 9 rity Innovation Fee Account for scholar- 10 ships under the Science, Mathematics, and 11 Research for Transformation (SMART) 12 Defense Education Program described in 13 section 2192a of title 10, United States 14 Code. 15 (g) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT REQUIRED.—Not 16 later than 360 days after the date of the enactment of 17 this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security and Sec- 18 retary of Defense shall jointly submit to the appropriate 19 congressional committees a report that includes— 20 (1) a plan for implementing the authorities pro- 21 vided under this section; and 22 (2) identification of any additional authorities 23 that may be required to assist the Secretaries in 24 fully implementing section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7256.IH H7256 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7256 IH (h) PROGRAM EVALUATION AND REPORT.— 1 (1) EVALUATION.—The Comptroller General of 2 the United States shall conduct an evaluation of the 3 competitive program and special immigrant program 4 described in subsections (a) through (f). 5 (2) REPORT.—Not later than October 1, 2025, 6 the Comptroller General shall submit to the appro- 7 priate congressional committees a report on the re- 8 sults of the evaluation conducted under paragraph 9 (1). 10 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 12 mittees’’ means— 13 (A) the Committee on Armed Services and 14 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 15 Representatives; and 16 (B) the Committee on Armed Services and 17 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate. 18 (2) The term ‘‘National Security Innovation 19 Base’’ means the network of persons and organiza- 20 tions, including Federal agencies, institutions of 21 higher education, federally funded research and de- 22 velopment centers, defense industrial base entities, 23 nonprofit organizations, commercial entities, and 24 venture capital firms that are engaged in the mili- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7256.IH H7256 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7256 IH tary and non-military research, development, fund- 1 ing, and production of innovative technologies that 2 support the national security of the United States. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Jul 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7256.IH H7256 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS