Sunshine Sentinel

Rick Scott was mentioned in Text of Senate Amendment 5717 on page S5083 covering the 2nd Session of the 117th Congress published on Sept. 27 in the Congressional Record.

The publication is reproduced in full below:

SA 5717. Mr. SCOTT of Florida submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle F of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1276. AFGHAN VETTING ACCOUNTABILITY.

(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Afghan Vetting Accountability Act of 2022''.

(b) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security conducted an audit, which included meetings with more than 130 individuals from the Department of Homeland Security, to determine the extent to which the Department of Homeland Security screened, vetted, and inspected evacuees arriving as part of Operation Allies Refuge and Operation Allies Welcome.

(2) In the report resulting from such audit, ``DHS Encountered Obstacles to Screen, Vet, and Inspect All Evacuees during the Recent Afghanistan Crisis'', which was issued on September 6, 2022, the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security found that--

(A) ``[t]he United States welcomed more than 79,000 Afghan evacuees between July 2021 and January 2022, as part of

[Operation Allies Refuge and Operation Allies Welcome]'';

(B) ``[t]he President directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to lead the coordination across the Federal Government to resettle vulnerable Afghans arriving as part of

[Operation Allies Welcome]'';

(C) ``[the Department of Homeland Security] encountered obstacles to screen, vet, and inspect all Afghan evacuees arriving as part of Operation Allies Refuge and Operation Allies Welcome'';

(D) ``U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not always have critical data to properly screen, vet, or inspect the evacuees'';

(E) ``some information used to vet evacuees through U.S. Government databases, such as name, date of birth, identification number, and travel document data, was inaccurate, incomplete, or missing''; and

(F) ``[U.S. Customs and Border Protection] admitted or paroled evacuees who were not fully vetted into the United States''.

(3) The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security attributed the Department of Homeland Security's challenges with respect to properly screening, vetting, and inspecting such evacuees to not having--

(A) a list of evacuees from Afghanistan who were unable to provide sufficient identification documents;

(B) a contingency plan to support similar emergency situations; and

(C) standardized policies.

(4) As a result of such deficiencies, the Department of Homeland Security may have admitted or paroled individuals into the United States who pose a risk to the national security of the United States and to the safety of local communities.

(c) Identification and Recurrent Vetting of Evacuees From Afghanistan.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall--

(1) identify all evacuees from Afghanistan who--

(A) were paroled into the United States during the period beginning on July 14, 2021, and ending on February 19, 2022, as part of Operation Allies Refuge or Operation Allies Welcome; and

(B) remain in the United States;

(2) for each such Afghan evacuee, conduct a full screening and vetting, including by consulting all law enforcement and international terrorist screening databases, based on the confirmed identity of the evacuee;

(3) prioritize the screening and vetting described in paragraph (2) for such evacuees who did not have documentation of their identity on arrival in the United States;

(4) establish recurrent and periodic vetting processes for all such evacuees, including in-person interviews, to the extent necessary;

(5) ensure that the vetting processes described in paragraph (4) are carried out for each such evacuee for the duration of the authorized period of parole of the evacuee; and

(6) submit evidence to the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and the head of each State and local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over a place where an Afghan evacuee resides that the full screening and vetting described in paragraph (2) and the recurrent and periodic vetting processes described in paragraph (4) have been carried out.

(d) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security shall submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives that includes--

(1) the findings and results of the rescreening and vetting required under subsection (c); and

(2) the number of Afghan evacuees who were determined to be inadmissible to the United States.

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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 156

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