; 130 Stat. 2480), is further amended by striking December 15, 2019 and inserting December 15, 2020 . 1216. Sense of Congress regarding the Afghan special immigrant visa program (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The Armed Forces, the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, and other agencies and departments of the United States rely on the services of Afghan nationals in a variety of sensitive and trusted capacities to support the operations of the United States Government in Afghanistan. (2) Afghans who have supported the United States Government in Afghanistan face grave threats from the Taliban and other terrorist groups as a result of their service. (3) Commander of the United States Central Command, General Joseph L. Votel, warned in a June 14, 2017, letter that curtailing or abandoning the special immigrant visa program for Afghans carried out under the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 ( 8 U.S.C. 1101 note) would risk significantly undermining years of progress and goodwill and could serve to tip the balance in favor of malign actors . (4) Commander of Resolute Support and United States Forces-Afghanistan, General John W. Nicholson Jr., warned in a June 12, 2017, letter that if such program “is not fully resourced it could significantly undermine our credibility and the 16 years of tremendous sacrifice by thousands of Afghans on behalf of Americans and Coalition partners”. (5) All visas allocated for such program are projected to be exhausted and all visa issuances for principal applicants will cease in October 2017, if additional visas are not authorized. (6) The cessation of the issuance of special immigrant visas for Afghans is likely to cause panic among the Afghans who are assisting the United States, often at great personal risk, and could significantly affect the operations of the United States Government in Afghanistan. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that an additional 4,000 visas should be made available for principal aliens