In the Senate of the United States,

November 19, 2004.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 2655) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend and extend the

Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program Act of

1998.’’, do pass with the following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. AMENDMENT AND EXTENSION OF IRISH PEACE

2 PROCESS CULTURAL AND TRAINING PRO3 GRAM.

4 (a) IRISH PEACE PROCESS CULTURAL AND TRAINING

5 PROGRAM ACT.—

6 (1) PROGRAM PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS.—

7 Section 2(a) of the Irish Peace Process Cultural and

8 Training Program Act of 1998 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note)

9 is amended by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS.—

11 An alien entering the United States as a participant
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1 in the program shall satisfy the following require2 ments:

3 ‘‘(A) The alien shall be a citizen of the

4 United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland.

5 ‘‘(B) The alien shall be between 21 and 35

6 years of age on the date of departure for the

7 United States.

8 ‘‘(C) The alien shall have resided continu9 ously in a designated county for not less than 18

10 months before such date.

11 ‘‘(D) The alien shall have been continuously

12 unemployed for not less than 12 months before

13 such date.

14 ‘‘(E) The alien may not have a degree from

15 an institution of higher education.’’.

16 (2) EXTENSION OF PROGRAM.—Section 2 of the

17 Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program

18 Act of 1998 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended—

19 (A) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘the

20 third program year and for the 4 subsequent

21 years,’’ and inserting ‘‘each program year,’’; and

22 (B) by amending subsection (d) to read as

23 follows:

24 ‘‘(d) SUNSET.—
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1 ‘‘(1) Effective October 1, 2008, the Irish Peace

2 Process Cultural and Training Program Act of 1998

3 is repealed.

4 ‘‘(2) Effective October 1, 2008, section

5 101(a)(15)(Q) of the Immigration and Nationality

6 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(Q)) is amended—

7 ‘‘(A) by striking ‘or’ at the end of clause (i);

8 ‘‘(B) by striking ‘(i)’ after ‘(Q)’; and

9 ‘‘(C) by striking clause (ii).’’.

10 (3) COST-SHARING.—Section 2 of the Irish Peace

11 Process Cultural and Training Program Act of 1998

12 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note), as amended by paragraph (2),

13 is further amended—

14 (A) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d)

15 as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and

16 (B) by inserting after subsection (b), the fol17 lowing new subsection:

18 ‘‘(c) COST-SHARING.—The Secretary of State shall

19 verify that the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland

20 continue to pay a reasonable share of the costs of the admin21 istration of the cultural and training programs carried out

22 pursuant to this Act.’’.

23 (4) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The Irish Peace

24 Process Cultural and Training Program Act of 1998

25 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each

2 place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Sec3 retary of Homeland Security’’; and

4 (B) by striking ‘‘Immigration and Natu5 ralization Service’’ each place such term appears

6 and inserting ‘‘Department of Homeland Secu7 rity’’.

8 (b) IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT.—

9 (1) REQUIREMENTS FOR NONIMMIGRANT STA10 TUS.—Section 101(a)(15)(Q) of the Immigration and

11 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(Q)) is

12 amended—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each

14 place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Sec15 retary of Homeland Security’’; and

16 (B) in clause (ii)(I)—

17 (i) by striking ‘‘35 years of age or

18 younger having a residence’’ and inserting

19 ‘‘citizen of the United Kingdom or the Re20 public of Ireland, 21 to 35 years of age, un21 employed for not less than 12 months, and

22 having a residence for not less than 18

23 months’’; and

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘36 months)’’ and in25 serting ‘‘24 months)’’.
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1 (2) FOREIGN RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT.—Sec2 tion 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

3 U.S.C. 1182) is amended—

4 (A) by redesignating the subsection (p) as

5 added by section 1505(f) of Public Law 106–386

6 (114 Stat. 1526) as subsection (s); and

7 (B) by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(t)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no person

9 admitted under section 101(a)(15)(Q)(ii)(I), or acquiring

10 such status after admission, shall be eligible to apply for

11 nonimmigrant status, an immigrant visa, or permanent

12 residence under this Act until it is established that such

13 person has resided and been physically present in the per14 son’s country of nationality or last residence for an aggre15 gate of at least 2 years following departure from the United

16 States.

17 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Homeland Security may waive

18 the requirement of such 2-year foreign residence abroad if

19 the Secretary determines that—

20 ‘‘(A) departure from the United States would

21 impose exceptional hardship upon the alien’s spouse

22 or child (if such spouse or child is a citizen of the

23 United States or an alien lawfully admitted for per24 manent residence); or
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1 ‘‘(B) the admission of the alien is in the public

2 interest or the national interest of the United

3 States.’’.

Attest:

Secretary.
108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2655

AMENDMENT