Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 111 Part 1.djvu/664

 Ill STAT. 640 PUBLIC LAW 105-33—AUG. 5, 1997 veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States do not extend to Hmong veterans of the Vietnam conflict era, making Hmong veterans and their famihes receiving certain welfare benefits subject to restrictions despite their military service on behalf of the United States. (b) CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT.—I t is the sense of the Congress that Hmong and other Highland Lao veterans who fought on behalf of the Armed Forces of the United States during the Vietnam conflict and have lawfully been admitted to the United States for permanent residence should be considered veterans for purposes of continuing certain welfare benefits consistent with the exceptions provided other noncitizen veterans under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Subchapter B—General Provisions SEC. 5571. DETERMINATION OF TREATMENT OF BATTERED ALIENS AS QUALIFIED ALIENS; INCLUSION OF ALIEN CHILD OF BATTERED PARENT AS QUALIFIED ALIEN. (a) DETERMINATION OF STATUS BY AGENCY PROVIDING BENE- FITS.— Section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641) is amended in subsections (c)(1)(A) and (c)(2)(A) by striking "Attorney General, which opinion is not subject to review by any court)" each place it appears and inserting "agency providing such benefits)". (b) GUIDANCE ISSUED BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Section 431(c) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new undesignated paragraph: "After consultation with the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development, the Commissioner of Social Security, and with the heads of such Federal agencies administering benefits as the Attorney General considers appropriate, the Attorney General shall issue guidance (in the Attorney General's sole and unreviewable discretion) for purposes of this subsection and section 421(f), concerning the meaning of the terms 'battery' and 'extreme cruelty', and the standards and methods to be used for determining whether a substantial connection exists between battery or cruelty suffered and an individual's need for benefits under a specific Federal, State, or local program.". (c) INCLUSION OF ALIEN CHILD OF BATTERED PARENT AS QUALI- FIED ALIEN.— Section 431(c) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641(c)) is amended— (1) at the end of paragraph (l)(B)(iv) by striking "or"; (2) at the end of paragraph (2)(B) by striking the period and inserting "; or"; and (3) by inserting after paragraph (2)(B) and before the last sentence of such subsection the following new paragraph: "(3) an alien child who— "(A) resides in the same household as a parent who has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States by that parent's spouse or by a member of the spouse's family residing in the same household as the parent and the spouse consented or acquiesced to such battery or cruelty, but only if (in the opinion of the agency providing such benefits) there is a substantial connection

�