I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4086 
To require that supplemental certifications and background investigations 
be completed prior to the admission of certain aliens as refugees, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 19, 2015 
Mr. HILL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require that supplemental certifications and background 
investigations be completed prior to the admission of 
certain aliens as refugees, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Security Verification 
for Refugees Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REVIEW OF REFUGEES TO IDENTIFY SECURITY 
THREATS TO THE UNITED STATES. 
(a) BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION.—In addition to 
the screening conducted by the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
shall take all actions necessary to ensure that each covered 
alien receives a thorough background investigation prior 
to admission as a refugee. A covered alien may not be ad-
mitted as a refugee until the Director of the Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation certifies to the Secretary of Home-
land Security and the Director of National Intelligence 
that each covered alien has received a background inves-
tigation that is sufficient to determine whether the covered 
alien is a threat to the security of the United States. 
(b) 
CERTIFICATION
BY
UNANIMOUS
CONCUR-
RENCE.—A covered alien may only be admitted to the 
United States after the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
with the unanimous concurrence of the Director of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director of Na-
tional Intelligence, certifies to the appropriate Congres-
sional Committees that the covered alien is not a threat 
to the security of the United States. 
(c) INSPECTOR
GENERAL
REVIEW
OF
CERTIFI-
CATIONS.—The Inspector General of the Department of 
Homeland Security shall conduct a risk-based review of 
all certifications made under subsection (b) each year and 
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shall provide an annual report detailing the findings to 
the appropriate Congressional Committees. 
(d) MONTHLY REPORT.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall submit to the appropriate Congressional 
Committees a monthly report on the total number of appli-
cations for admission with regard to which a certification 
under subsection (b) was made and the number of covered 
aliens with regard to whom such a certification was not 
made for the month preceding the date of the report. The 
report shall include, for each covered alien with regard to 
whom a certification was not made, the concurrence or 
nonconcurrence of each person whose concurrence was re-
quired by subsection (b). 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) COVERED
ALIEN.—The term ‘‘covered 
alien’’ means any alien applying for admission to the 
United States as a refugee who— 
(A) is a national or resident of Iraq, Syria, 
or a country designated as a high-risk country 
by the Secretary of State under section 3; 
(B) has no nationality and whose last ha-
bitual residence was in Iraq, Syria, or a country 
designated as a high-risk country by the Sec-
retary of State under section 3; or 
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(C) has been present in Iraq or Syria at 
any time on or after March 1, 2011. 
(2) 
APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COM-
MITTEE.—The term ‘‘appropriate Congressional 
Committees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Armed Services of 
the Senate; 
(B) the Select Committee on Intelligence 
of the Senate; 
(C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
Senate; 
(D) the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 
(E) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
the Senate; 
(F) the Committee on Appropriations of 
the Senate; 
(G) the Committee on Armed Services of 
the House of Representatives; 
(H) the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence of the House of Representatives; 
(I) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives; 
(J) the Committee on Homeland Security 
of the House of Representatives; 
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(K) the Committee on Appropriations of 
the House of Representatives; and 
(L) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives. 
SEC. 3. REPORT ON RISK LEVELS OF COUNTRIES. 
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall sub-
mit to the appropriate Congressional Committees (as such 
term is defined in section 2(e)) a report, which shall be 
submitted in unclassified form to the maximum extent 
practicable, but may include a classified annex, and which 
includes the following: 
(1) A list of each country, a national or resi-
dent of which submitted an application for admis-
sion to the United States as a refugee under section 
207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1157) during the year preceding the report. 
(2) For each country listed under paragraph 
(1), an evaluation of the threat to the security of the 
United States posed by aliens who are nationals or 
residents of each such country, and a designation of 
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each such country as high-risk, medium-risk, or low- 
risk. 
(3) For each country listed under paragraph 
(1), the number of applications for admission as a 
refugee to the United States during the year pre-
ceding the report. 
(4) For each country listed under paragraph 
(1), the number of aliens who were admitted to the 
United States as refugees during the year preceding 
the report. 
(5) Beginning with the second report submitted 
under this section, in the case of a country for which 
the designation under paragraph (2) changed from 
the designation of that country in the preceding 
year’s report, an explanation of the reason for the 
change. 
(6) To the extent practicable, and without jeop-
ardizing intelligence sources or methods, a descrip-
tion of the following: 
(A) Any presence of terrorism, hostile ac-
tions against the United States or its allies, 
gross violations of human rights, human traf-
ficking, drug trafficking, religious persecution, 
or other violations of international law. 
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(B) Any presence of al Qaeda, al Qaeda af-
filiates, Islamic State, or other terrorist groups. 
(C) Any presence of transnational criminal 
organizations. 
Æ 
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