II 

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, and Mr. HATCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

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.

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’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ADMISSION OF CRITICAL ALIENS. 

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

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

4 1101(a)(15)) is amended—

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

6 (U); 

7 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub8 paragraph (V) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub10 paragraph: 

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

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

13 in coordination with the Secretary of State, the 

14 Director of Central Intelligence, and such other 

15 officials as he may deem appropriate, and in 

16 the Attorney General’s unreviewable discretion, 

17 is an individual—

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

19 an Iraqi program to produce weapons of 

20 mass destruction or the means to deliver 

21 them; 

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

23 and reliable information concerning any 

24 such Iraqi program; 
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1 ‘‘(III) who is willing to provide, or has 

2 provided, such information to the United 

3 States Government; 

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

5 or has provided, such information to in6 spectors of the United Nations or of the 

7 International Atomic Energy Agency; 

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

9 danger as a result of providing such infor10 mation; and 

11 ‘‘(VI) whose admission would be in 

12 the public interest or in the interest of na13 tional security; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) who is the spouse, married or unmar15 ried son or daughter, parent, or other relative, 

16 as determined by the Attorney General in his 

17 unreviewable discretion, of an alien described in 

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

19 such alien, and whose admission the Attorney 

20 General, in coordination with the Secretary of 

21 State and the Director of Central Intelligence, 

22 determines in his unreviewable discretion is in 

23 the public interest or in the interest of national 

24 security.’’. 
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1 (b) LIMITATIONS AND CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12 respectively; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub14 section: 

15 ‘‘(s) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS AND CONDITIONS OF

16 ADMISSION AND STAY FOR NONIMMIGRANTS ADMITTED

17 UNDER SECTION 101(a)(15)(W).—

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

19 may be admitted to the United States or otherwise 

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

21 not exceed a total of 500. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—As a condition for the ad23 mission, and continued stay in lawful status, of any 

24 alien admitted to the United States or otherwise 
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1 granted status as a nonimmigrant under section 

2 101(a)(15)(W), the nonimmigrant—

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

4 such information concerning the alien’s where5 abouts and activities as the Attorney General 

6 may require;

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

8 offense punishable by a term of imprisonment 

9 of 1 year or more after the date of such admis10 sion or grant of status; 

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

12 waives the nonimmigrant’s right to contest, 

13 other than on the basis of an application for 

14 withholding of removal or for protection under 

15 the Convention Against Torture, any action for 

16 removal of the alien instituted before the alien 

17 obtains lawful permanent resident status; 

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

19 for information from the United States Govern20 ment including, but not limited to, fully and 

21 truthfully disclosing to the United States Gov22 ernment all information in the alien’s posses23 sion concerning any Iraqi program to produce 

24 weapons of mass destruction or the means to 

25 deliver them; and 
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1 ‘‘(E) shall abide by any other condition, 

2 limitation, or restriction imposed by the Attor3 ney General.’’. 

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

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

6 amended—

7 (1) in subsection (c)—

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

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

10 an alien who was admitted as a nonimmigrant 

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

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

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

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

16 ‘‘(n) ADJUSTMENT TO PERMANENT RESIDENT STA17 TUS OF ‘W’ NONIMMIGRANTS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, in the opinion of the At19 torney General, a nonimmigrant admitted into the 

20 United States (or otherwise provided nonimmigrant 

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

22 with section 214(s) since such admission or grant of 

23 status, the Attorney General may, in coordination 

24 with the Secretary of State and the Director of Cen25 tral Intelligence, and in his unreviewable discretion, 
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1 adjust the status of the alien (and any alien who has 

2 accompanied or followed to join such alien pursuant 

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

4 with section 214(s) since admission or grant of non5 immigrant status) to that of an alien lawfully admit6 ted for permanent residence if the alien is not de7 scribed in section 212(a)(3)(E). 

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

9 VISA NUMBERS.—Upon the approval of adjustment 

10 of status of any alien under paragraph (1), the At11 torney General shall record the alien’s lawful admis12 sion for permanent residence as of the date of such 

13 approval and the Secretary of State shall reduce by 

14 one the number of visas authorized to be issued 

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

16 year then current.’’. 

17 (d) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Section 212(d) of the Im18 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)) is 

19 amended by inserting after paragraph (1) the following 

20 new paragraph: 

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

22 a ground of inadmissibility exists with respect to a non23 immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(W). The Attor24 ney General, in the Attorney General’s discretion, may 

25 waive the application of subsection (a) in the case of such 
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1 a nonimmigrant if the Attorney General considers it to 

2 be in the public interest or in the interest of national secu3 rity.’’. 

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

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

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

7 (W)’’. 

8 SEC. 3. WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION DEFINED. 

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

10 mass destruction’’ has the meaning given the term in sec11 tion 1403(1) of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass De12 struction Act of 1996 (title XIV of Public Law 104–201; 

13 110 Stat. 2717; 50 U.S.C. 2302(1)), as amended by sub14 section (b). 

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

16 of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act 

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

18 2717; 50 U.S.C. 2302(1)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘a 

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

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

21 title 18, United States Code)’’.

Æ