II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 883 

To reform and modernize domestic refugee resettlement programs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2013 

Ms. STABENOW introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reform and modernize domestic refugee resettlement 

programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Refugee Re5 settlement Reform and Modernization Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The United States has enhanced and accel9 erated its efforts to resettle Iraqi refugees since 

10 2007. 


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1 (2) Resettlement in the United States remains 

2 an important option for refugees around the world 

3 that lack any other durable solution. 

4 (3) Many of these refugees are victims of tor5 ture and persecution, or were forced to flee because 

6 of support they gave to American military, govern7 ment, or media operations. 

8 (4) Refugees are often a product of human 

9 rights atrocities and war, making them likely to have 

10 suffered traumatic events which require the United 

11 States to offer them protection and meet their needs 

12 once they arrive here. 

13 (5) In fiscal year 2012, a total of 58,238 refu14 gees were resettled in the United States, including 

15 12,163 from Iraq. 

16 (6) Upon arrival in the United States, refugees 

17 are entitled to cash and medical assistance for up to 

18 36 months and access to social services, such as job 

19 placement, from the Office of Refugee Resettlement, 

20 but refugees actually receive only 8 months of cash 

21 and medical assistance. 

22 (7) When given adequate support through the 

23 resettlement system, refugees can successfully be24 come self-sufficient and contribute positively to their 

25 communities. 


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1 (8) Additional resources and better data could 

2 strengthen refugee services and better respond to 

3 the need of highly vulnerable refugees. 

4 (9) Funding formulas used by the Office of 

5 Refugee Resettlement are retroactive in nature, 

6 using refugee admission data from up to 3 prior 

7 years, so that large increases in refugee admissions 

8 are not adequately reflected in the amount of re9 sources provided by the Office. 

10 (10) United States resettlement policy assumes 

11 refugees will be able to quickly become self-suffi12 cient, while specifically offering resettlement to indi13 viduals who have specific vulnerabilities that inhibit 

14 their ability to achieve self-sufficiency and integrate 

15 into society. 

16 (11) Some refugees will have mental health dif17 ficulties associated with trauma or torture and this 

18 is a significant barrier to self-sufficiency and inte19 gration into a community when it is not addressed 

20 with adequate and appropriate services. 

21 (12) Secondary migration is not properly 

22 tracked, and resources are not available for States 

23 and agencies experiencing high levels of secondary 

24 migration. 


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1 (13) Refugee services are provided by national 

2 resettlement agencies, community based organiza3 tions, charities, and nonprofit organizations and co4 ordinated locally by State refugee programs, and all 

5 the organizations should be supported in their mis6 sion to provide refugee services. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist10 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

11 Health and Human Services for Refugee and Asylee 

12 Resettlement. 

13 (2) COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 

14 term ‘‘community based organization’’ means a non15 profit organization providing a variety of social, 

16 health, educational and community services to a pop17 ulation that includes refugees resettled into the 

18 United States. 

19 (3) NATIONAL RESETTLEMENT AGENCY.—The 

20 term ‘‘national resettlement agency’’ means vol21 untary agencies contracting with the Department of 

22 State to provide sponsorship and initial resettlement 

23 services to refugees entering the United States. 


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1 SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF THE REFUGEE DOMESTIC RESET2 TLEMENT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

5 of the United States shall conduct a study regarding the 

6 effectiveness of the domestic refugee resettlement pro7 grams operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

8 (b) MATTERS TO BE STUDIED.—In the study re9 quired under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall 

10 determine and analyze— 

11 (1) how the Office of Refugee Resettlement de12 fines self-sufficiency and if this definition is ade13 quate in addressing refugee needs in the United 

14 States; 

15 (2) the effectiveness of Office of Refugee Reset16 tlement programs in helping refugees to meet self17 sufficiency and integration; 

18 (3) the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s budg19 etary resources and project the amount of additional 

20 resources needed to fully address the unmet needs of 

21 refugees with regard to self-sufficiency and integra22 tion; 

23 (4) the role of community based organizations 

24 in serving refugees in areas experiencing a high 

25 number of new refugee arrivals; 


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1 (5) how community based organizations can be 

2 better utilized and supported in the Federal domes3 tic resettlement process; and 

4 (6) recommended statutory changes to improve 

5 the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the domestic 

6 refugee program in relation to the matters analyzed 

7 under paragraphs (1) through (5). 

8 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

9 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

10 submit the results of the study required under subsection 

11 (a) to Congress. 

12 SEC. 5. ELEVATION OF THE OFFICE OF REFUGEE RESET13 TLEMENT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 411(a) of the Immigra15 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1521(a)) is amended 

16 to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(a) There is established, within the Department of 

18 Health and Human Services, the Office of Refugee Reset19 tlement (referred to in this chapter as the ‘Office’). The 

20 head of the Office shall be the Assistant Secretary of 

21 Health and Human Services for Refugee and Asylee Re22 settlement (referred to in this chapter as the ‘Assistant 

23 Secretary’), who shall be appointed by the President and 

24 shall report directly to the Secretary.’’. 

25 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT.— 

2 Chapter 2 of title IV of the Immigration and Na3 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1521 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (A) in section 411(b), by striking ‘‘Direc5 tor’’ and inserting ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’; 

6 (B) in section 412, by striking ‘‘Director’’ 

7 each place such term appears and inserting 

8 ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’; and 

9 (C) in section 413, by striking ‘‘Director’’ 

10 each place such term appears and inserting 

11 ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’. 

12 (2) HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002.—Sec13 tion 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

14 U.S.C. 279) is amended by striking ‘‘Director of the 

15 Office of Refugee Resettlement’’ each place such 

16 term appears and inserting ‘‘Assistant Secretary of 

17 Health and Human Services for Refugee and Asylee 

18 Resettlement’’. 

19 (c) REFERENCES.—Any reference to the Director of 

20 the Office of Refugee Resettlement in any other Federal 

21 law, Executive order, rule, regulation, operating instruc22 tion, or delegation of authority, or any document of or 

23 pertaining to the Department of Health and Human Serv24 ices or the Office of Refugee Resettlement that refers to 

25 the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, shall 


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1 be deemed to refer to the Assistant Secretary of Health 

2 and Human Services for Refugee and Asylee Resettle3 ment. 

4 SEC. 6. REFUGEE ASSISTANCE. 

5 (a) ASSISTANCE MADE AVAILABLE TO SECONDARY

6 MIGRANTS.—Section 412(a)(1) of the Immigration and 

7 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(a)(1)) is amended by add8 ing at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(C) When providing assistance under this section, 

10 the Assistant Secretary shall ensure that such assistance 

11 is provided to refugees who are secondary migrants and 

12 meet all other eligibility requirements for such services.’’. 

13 (b) REPORT ON SECONDARY MIGRATION.—Section 

14 412(a)(3) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(a)(3)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘periodic’’ and inserting ‘‘an16 nual’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘At the 

18 end of each fiscal year, the Assistant Secretary shall 

19 submit a report to Congress that includes States ex20 periencing departures and arrivals due to secondary 

21 migration, likely reasons for migration, the impact 

22 of secondary migration on States hosting secondary 

23 migrants, availability of social services for secondary 

24 migrants in those States, and unmet needs of those 

25 secondary migrants.’’. 


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1 (c) AMENDMENTS TO THE SOCIAL SERVICES FUND2 ING.—Section 412(c)(1)(B) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

3 1522(c)(1)(B)) is amended— 

4 (1) by inserting ‘‘a combination of’’ after 

5 ‘‘based on’’; and 

6 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert7 ing the following: ‘‘, the total number of all other eli8 gible populations served by the Office during the pe9 riod described who are residing in the State as of 

10 the beginning of the fiscal year, and projections on 

11 the number and nature of incoming refugees and 

12 other populations served by the Office during the 

13 subsequent fiscal year.’’. 

14 (d) NOTICE AND RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 

15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and not 

16 later than 30 days before the effective date set forth in 

17 subsection (e), the Assistant Secretary shall issue a pro18 posed rule for a new formula by which grants and con19 tracts are to be allocated pursuant to the amendments 

20 made by subsection (c) and solicit public comment. 

21 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 this section shall become effective on the first day of the 

23 first fiscal year that begins after the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 7. RESETTLEMENT DATA. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary shall ex3 pand the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s data analysis, 

4 collection, and sharing activities in accordance with the 

5 requirements under subsections (b) through (e). 

6 (b) DATA ON MENTAL AND PHYSICAL MEDICAL

7 CASES.—The Assistant Secretary shall coordinate with 

8 the Centers for Disease Control, national resettlement 

9 agencies, community based organizations, and State ref10 ugee health programs to track national and State trends 

11 on refugees arriving with Class A medical conditions and 

12 other urgent medical needs. The Assistant Secretary shall 

13 utilize initial refugee health screening data, including his14 tory of severe trauma, torture, mental health symptoms, 

15 depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder, re16 corded during domestic and international health 

17 screenings, and Refugee Medical Assistance utilization 

18 rate data in collecting information under this subsection. 

19 (c) DATA ON HOUSING NEEDS.—The Assistant Sec20 retary shall partner with State refugee programs, commu21 nity based organizations, and national resettlement agen22 cies to collect data relating to the housing needs of refu23 gees, including— 

24 (1) the number of refugees who have become 

25 homeless; and 


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1 (2) the number of refugees who are at severe 

2 risk of becoming homeless. 

3 (d) DATA ON REFUGEE EMPLOYMENT AND SELF4 SUFFICIENCY.—The Assistant Secretary shall gather lon5 gitudinal information relating to refugee self-sufficiency, 

6 integration, and employment status during the 2-year pe7 riod beginning 1 year after the refugees’ arrival in the 

8 United States. 

9 (e) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Assistant Sec10 retary shall— 

11 (1) annually update the data collected under 

12 this section; and 

13 (2) submit an annual report to Congress that 

14 contains the updated data. 

15 SEC. 8. GUIDANCE REGARDING REFUGEE PLACEMENT DE16 CISIONS. 

17 (a) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of State shall 

18 provide guidance to national resettlement agencies and 

19 State Refugee Coordinators on consultation with local 

20 stakeholders pertaining to refugee resettlement. 

21 (b) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary of Health and 

22 Human Services, in collaboration with the Secretary of 

23 State, shall collect from voluntary agencies and State ref24 ugee coordinators and disseminate best practices related 


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1 to the implementation of the guidance on stakeholder con2 sultation on refugee resettlement. 

3 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

5 take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of 

6 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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