II 

Calendar No. 9

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 205

To authorize the issuance of immigrant visas to, and the admission to the 

United States for permanent residence of, certain scientists, engineers, 

and technicians who have worked in Iraqi weapons of mass destruction 

programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 23, 2003

Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. HATCH, and Mr. 

LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

JANUARY 30, 2003

Reported by Mr. HATCH, without amendment 

A BILL

To authorize the issuance of immigrant visas to, and the 

admission to the United States for permanent residence 

of, certain scientists, engineers, and technicians who have 

worked in Iraqi weapons of mass destruction programs.
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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 ‘‘Iraqi Scientists Immi5 gration Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADMISSION OF CRITICAL ALIENS. 

7 (a) NONIMMIGRANT CATEGORY.—Section 101(a)(15) 

8 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

9 1101(a)(15)) is amended—

10 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

11 (U); 

12 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub13 paragraph (V) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(W) Subject to section 214(s), an alien—

17 ‘‘(i) who the Attorney General determines, 

18 in coordination with the Secretary of State, the 

19 Director of Central Intelligence, and such other 

20 officials as he may deem appropriate, and in 

21 the Attorney General’s unreviewable discretion, 

22 is an individual—

23 ‘‘(I) who has worked at any time in 

24 an Iraqi program to produce weapons of 
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1 mass destruction or the means to deliver 

2 them; 

3 ‘‘(II) who is in possession of critical 

4 and reliable information concerning any 

5 such Iraqi program; 

6 ‘‘(III) who is willing to provide, or has 

7 provided, such information to the United 

8 States Government; 

9 ‘‘(IV) who may be willing to provide, 

10 or has provided, such information to in11 spectors of the United Nations or of the 

12 International Atomic Energy Agency; 

13 ‘‘(V) who will be or has been placed in 

14 danger as a result of providing such infor15 mation; and 

16 ‘‘(VI) whose admission would be in 

17 the public interest or in the interest of na18 tional security; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) who is the spouse, married or unmar20 ried son or daughter, parent, or other relative, 

21 as determined by the Attorney General in his 

22 unreviewable discretion, of an alien described in 

23 clause (i), if accompanying or following to join 

24 such alien, and whose admission the Attorney 

25 General, in coordination with the Secretary of 
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1 State and the Director of Central Intelligence, 

2 determines in his unreviewable discretion is in 

3 the public interest or in the interest of national 

4 security.’’. 

5 (b) LIMITATIONS AND CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO

6 ‘‘W’’ NONIMMIGRANTS.—Section 214 of the Immigration 

7 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended—

8 (1) by redesignating subsections (m) (as added 

9 by section 105 of Public Law 106–313), (n) (as 

10 added by section 107(e) of Public Law 106–386), 

11 (o) (as added by section 1513(c) of Public Law 106–

12 386), (o) (as added by section 1102(b) of the Legal 

13 Immigration Family Equity Act), and (p) (as added 

14 by section 1503(b) of the Legal Immigration Family 

15 Equity Act) as subsections (n), (o), (p), (q), and (r), 

16 respectively; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub18 section: 

19 ‘‘(s) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS AND CONDITIONS OF

20 ADMISSION AND STAY FOR NONIMMIGRANTS ADMITTED

21 UNDER SECTION 101(a)(15)(W).—

22 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION.—The number of aliens who 

23 may be admitted to the United States or otherwise 

24 granted status under section 101(a)(15)(W)(i) may 

25 not exceed a total of 500. 
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1 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—As a condition for the ad2 mission, and continued stay in lawful status, of any 

3 alien admitted to the United States or otherwise 

4 granted status as a nonimmigrant under section 

5 101(a)(15)(W), the nonimmigrant—

6 ‘‘(A) shall report to the Attorney General 

7 such information concerning the alien’s where8 abouts and activities as the Attorney General 

9 may require;

10 ‘‘(B) may not be convicted of any criminal 

11 offense punishable by a term of imprisonment 

12 of 1 year or more after the date of such admis13 sion or grant of status; 

14 ‘‘(C) must have executed a form that 

15 waives the nonimmigrant’s right to contest, 

16 other than on the basis of an application for 

17 withholding of removal or for protection under 

18 the Convention Against Torture, any action for 

19 removal of the alien instituted before the alien 

20 obtains lawful permanent resident status; 

21 ‘‘(D) shall cooperate fully with all requests 

22 for information from the United States Govern23 ment including, but not limited to, fully and 

24 truthfully disclosing to the United States Gov25 ernment all information in the alien’s posses-
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1 sion concerning any Iraqi program to produce 

2 weapons of mass destruction or the means to 

3 deliver them; and 

4 ‘‘(E) shall abide by any other condition, 

5 limitation, or restriction imposed by the Attor6 ney General.’’. 

7 (c) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—Section 245 of the 

8 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) is 

9 amended—

10 (1) in subsection (c)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ before ‘‘(8)’’; and 

12 (B) by inserting before the period ‘‘or (9) 

13 an alien who was admitted as a nonimmigrant 

14 described in section 101(a)(15)(W)’’; 

15 (2) by redesignating subsection (l), relating to 

16 ‘‘U’’ visa nonimmigrants, as subsection (m); and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub18 section: 

19 ‘‘(n) ADJUSTMENT TO PERMANENT RESIDENT STA20 TUS OF ‘W’ NONIMMIGRANTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, in the opinion of the At22 torney General, a nonimmigrant admitted into the 

23 United States (or otherwise provided nonimmigrant 

24 status) under section 101(a)(15)(W)(i) has complied 

25 with section 214(s) since such admission or grant of 
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1 status, the Attorney General may, in coordination 

2 with the Secretary of State and the Director of Cen3 tral Intelligence, and in his unreviewable discretion, 

4 adjust the status of the alien (and any alien who has 

5 accompanied or followed to join such alien pursuant 

6 to section 101(a)(15)(W)(ii) and who has complied 

7 with section 214(s) since admission or grant of non8 immigrant status) to that of an alien lawfully admit9 ted for permanent residence if the alien is not de10 scribed in section 212(a)(3)(E). 

11 ‘‘(2) RECORD OF ADMISSION; REDUCTION IN

12 VISA NUMBERS.—Upon the approval of adjustment 

13 of status of any alien under paragraph (1), the At14 torney General shall record the alien’s lawful admis15 sion for permanent residence as of the date of such 

16 approval and the Secretary of State shall reduce by 

17 one the number of visas authorized to be issued 

18 under sections 201(d) and 203(b)(4) for the fiscal 

19 year then current.’’. 

20 (d) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Section 212(d) of the Im21 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)) is 

22 amended by inserting after paragraph (1) the following 

23 new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall determine whether 

25 a ground of inadmissibility exists with respect to a non-
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1 immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(W). The Attor2 ney General, in the Attorney General’s discretion, may 

3 waive the application of subsection (a) in the case of such 

4 a nonimmigrant if the Attorney General considers it to 

5 be in the public interest or in the interest of national secu6 rity.’’. 

7 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 248(1) of 

8 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1258(1)) 

9 is amended by striking ‘‘or (S)’’ and inserting ‘‘(S), or 

10 (W)’’. 

11 SEC. 3. WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION DEFINED. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act, the term ‘‘weapon of 

13 mass destruction’’ has the meaning given the term in sec14 tion 1403(1) of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass De15 struction Act of 1996 (title XIV of Public Law 104–201; 

16 110 Stat. 2717; 50 U.S.C. 2302(1)), as amended by sub17 section (b). 

18 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 1403(1)(B) 

19 of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act 

20 of 1996 (title XIV of Public Law 104–201; 110 Stat. 

21 2717; 50 U.S.C. 2302(1)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘a 

22 disease organism’’ and inserting ‘‘a biological agent, toxin, 

23 or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178 of 

24 title 18, United States Code)’’. 

Calendar No. 9

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 205

A BILL

To authorize the issuance of immigrant visas to, 

and the admission to the United States for permanent residence of, certain scientists, engineers, and technicians who have worked in Iraqi weapons of mass destruction programs. 

JANUARY 30, 2003

Reported without amendment