WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Rob Portman
(R-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee, Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, Richard Shelby (R-AL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations
Committee, Jim Risch (R-ID), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, and Shelley Moore Capito, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland
Security Appropriations Subcommittee, sent a letter to Department of Homeland
Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting the overdue report on the
composition and vetting of the more than 78,000 Afghans evacuated by U.S.
forces. The continuing resolution to fund the government passed in September
required Secretary Mayorkas to provide said report to Congress by November 30, 2021.
“Through Section 2503 of Public Law 117-43, the Extending
Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, Congress required
the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the head of any other
applicable Federal agency, to provide a report on the composition and vetting
of the more than 78,000 Afghan evacuees by November 30, 2021,” the senators wrote. “As
of the date of this letter, you have failed to meet the statutorily mandated
deadline. That is unacceptable. As Vice Chairman and Ranking Members of
the Committees with jurisdiction regarding oversight and funding of Operation
Allies Welcome, we request you immediately comply with the statutory deadline
and provide the above referenced report.”
Full text of the letter can be found
here and below:
Dear
Secretary Mayorkas,
Through
Section 2503 of Public Law 117-43, the Extending Government Funding and
Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, Congress required the Secretary of
Homeland Security, in coordination with the head of any other applicable
Federal agency, to provide a report on the composition and vetting of the more
than 78,000 Afghan evacuees by November 30, 2021. Congress mandated this
report include the immigration status of Afghan evacuees located here in the
United States and at overseas bases of U.S. Armed Forces, including any
evacuees “flagged as potential security risks or concerns.” This
information is necessary for Congress to perform its constitutional oversight
duties, which includes an understanding of the composition of the Afghan
evacuee population located in the United States and any potential national
security concerns.
As of the
date of this letter, you have failed to meet the statutorily mandated
deadline. That is unacceptable.
As Vice Chairman and Ranking Members of
the Committees with jurisdiction regarding oversight and funding of Operation
Allies Welcome, we request you immediately comply with the statutory deadline
and provide the above referenced report.
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