II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1736 

To provide the spouses and children of aliens who perished in the September 

11 terrorist attacks an opportunity to adjust their status to that of 

an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 1, 2009 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Ms. 

LANDRIEU, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, and Mr. REID) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide the spouses and children of aliens who perished 

in the September 11 terrorist attacks an opportunity 

to adjust their status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. 

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 ‘‘September 11 Family 

5 Humanitarian Relief and Patriotism Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN VICTIMS OF 

2 TERRORISM. 

3 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—The status of any 

4 alien described in subsection (b) may be adjusted by the 

5 Secretary of Homeland Security to that of an alien law6 fully admitted for permanent residence, if the alien— 

7 (1) applies for such adjustment not later than 

8 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act; 

9 (2) is not inadmissible to the United States 

10 under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 212(a) of the 

11 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

12 1182(a)), or deportable under paragraph (2) or (4) 

13 of section 237(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)); 

14 and 

15 (3) not later than the date on which the appli16 cation under paragraph (1) is submitted, satisfies 

17 any applicable Federal tax liability by establishing 

18 that— 

19 (A) no such tax liability exists; or 

20 (B) all outstanding liabilities have been 

21 paid. 

22 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA23 TUS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The benefit provided under 

25 subsection (a) shall apply to any alien who— 


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•S 1736 IS

1 (A) was, on September 10, 2001, the 

2 spouse, child, unmarried son, or unmarried 

3 daughter of an alien who died as a direct result 

4 of the terrorist activity conducted against the 

5 United States on September 11, 2001; 

6 (B) was deemed to be a beneficiary of, and 

7 by, the September 11th Victim Compensation 

8 Fund of 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101); and 

9 (C) made a proffer of information to the 

10 Secretary of Homeland Security between April 

11 24, 2008, and August 15, 2008, in connection 

12 with a request for immigration relief. 

13 (2) EXCEPTION.—An alien shall not be pro14 vided any benefit under this section if the Secretary 

15 of Homeland Security determines that the alien has 

16 willfully made a material misrepresentation or mate17 rial omission in the proffer of information described 

18 in paragraph (1)(C). 

19 (c) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 

20 Homeland Security may authorize an alien who has ap21 plied for adjustment of status under subsection (a) to en22 gage in employment in the United States during the pend23 ency of such application. 

24 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be 

25 construed to limit the existing authority of the Secretary 


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•S 1736 IS

1 of Homeland Security on the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act to require any form or other submission of informa3 tion or to perform any background or security check for 

4 the purpose of determining the admissibility, or eligibility 

5 under this section, of any alien. 

6 (e) WAIVER OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 6 

7 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue guidance to 

9 carry out this section. The Secretary shall not be required 

10 to promulgate regulations before implementing this sec11 tion. 

12 (f) NO OFFSET IN NUMBER OF VISAS AVAILABLE.— 

13 At the time an alien is granted the status of having been 

14 lawfully admitted for permanent residence under this sec15 tion, the Secretary of State shall not be required to reduce 

16 the number of immigrant visas authorized to be issued 

17 under title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

18 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.). 

19 (g) DEFINITIONS.— 

20 (1) APPLICABLE FEDERAL TAX LIABILITY DE21 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘applicable Fed22 eral tax liability’’ means liability for Federal taxes, 

23 including penalties and interest, owed for any year 

24 for which the statutory period for assessment of any 

25 deficiency for such taxes has not expired. 


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1 (2) INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE.—Except 

2 as otherwise specifically provided in this section, the 

3 definitions used in the Immigration and Nationality 

4 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) (excluding the defini5 tions applicable exclusively to title III of such Act) 

6 shall apply in the administration of this section. 

Æ 


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