{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=CB9C98E6-0A21-43E3-9188-8890A27C65E9", "Following Devastating Flooding in Pakistan, Warner Joins Gillibrand in Calling on President Biden to Grant Temporary Protected Status to Pakistani Nationals", "2022-09-21", "2022", "2022-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "VA", "Mark R. Warner", "W000805", "www.warner.senate.gov", "warner", "https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON - Following unprecedented flooding that has left one-third of Pakistan underwater and affected approximately 33 million people, today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner joined Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and 10 Senate colleagues in writing a letter calling on President Biden to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Pakistani nationals currently residing in the United States. Implementing TPS would allow Pakistani nationals to remain in the U.S. until Pakistan recovers from this environmental disaster. The ongoing crisis has left many regions of the country uninhabitable and unsafe, caused at least an estimated $10 billion in damage, and contaminated the water supply, spreading an array of waterborne illnesses, including diarrhea, malaria, acute respiratory infections, skin and eye infections, and typhoid.\n\nIn addition to Sens. Warner and Gillibrand, the letter to President Biden was also signed by Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Tina Smith (D-MN).\n\n\u201cGranting TPS to Pakistani nationals in need is a small but consequential step that the United States can take to immediately reduce the human suffering caused by this natural disaster and would reaffirm our stance as a global leader committed to humanitarian relief efforts and protections,\u201d wrote the senators. \u201cShould Pakistan officially request TPS designation given the current conditions the country is facing, we urge the Biden administration to prioritize such a request while continuing to monitor ongoing developments and deliberate on the best way to aid the Pakistani community.\u201d\n\nThis action is supported by the National Immigration Forum, Asian American Federation (AAF), the Climate Justice Collaborative at the National Partnership for New Americans, Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP), and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT).\n\nThe full text of the letter is available below:\n\nDear President Biden:\n\nWe write to respectfully urge your Administration to consider designating the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Unprecedented flooding in Pakistan is currently impacting approximately 33 million people and has killed more than 1,500 people, including 536 children. Given the severity of this crisis, the United States must ensure that Pakistani nationals present in the United States are not forced to return to conditions that could imperil their lives.\n\nCurrent conditions in Pakistan represent an ongoing environmental disaster \u2013 one of the statutory bases for TPS designation. Extreme flooding has left most regions of the country uninhabitable and unsafe. According to data from the European Space Agency, approximately one-third of Pakistan is underwater. The Indus River is exceeding its capacity, which has led officials to evacuate entire villages in hopes of mitigating further disaster. Half of Pakistan\u2019s municipal districts have declared a \u201cstate of calamity\u201d and the country\u2019s National Disaster Management Authority estimates that one in seven Pakistanis has been affected. According to Pakistan\u2019s finance minister, the damage is likely to exceed $10 billion, which is equivalent to 4 percent of the country\u2019s annual gross domestic product.\n\nEven as Pakistanis are reeling from the physical destruction caused by the flooding, they are also facing the spread of waterborne illness that this environmental crisis has exacerbated. Tens of thousands have been stricken by diarrhea, malaria, acute respiratory infections (ARI), skin and eye infections, typhoid, and other health issues resulting from contamination of the water supply. While we applaud your Administration\u2019s decision to provide a much needed $30 million in humanitarian assistance and dispatch a USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team, further action is needed to mitigate the harmful effects of this crisis.\n\nForcing Pakistanis to return to a country that is experiencing what U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres has called a relentless impact of \u201cepochal\u201d levels of rain and flooding would be a grievous obstruction to relief efforts. It would also risk fueling further displacement, destabilizing the region, and undermining key U.S. national security interests.8 The use and implementation of TPS as a humanitarian tool would provide necessary relief to individuals that are unable to return to their country due to the extraordinary environmental and public health conditions.\n\nAdditionally, designating Pakistan for TPS would also contribute to your Administration\u2019s multi-pronged disaster response. It would decrease the strain on Pakistani infrastructure and provide a safe haven for those who cannot return to their homes or whose homes have been destroyed. Should Pakistan officially request TPS designation given the current conditions that the country is facing, we urge you to prioritize such a request and take it into serious consideration while you continue to monitor ongoing developments and deliberate on the best way to aid the Pakistani community. TPS is a small but consequential step that the United States can take to immediately reduce the human suffering caused by this natural disaster and would reaffirm our stance as a global leader committed to humanitarian relief efforts and protections.\n\nThank you for your consideration. We look forward to your timely reply.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:29:59Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=CB9C98E6-0A21-43E3-9188-8890A27C65E9"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8895848877727985, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}