The Lautenberg Amendment commonly refers to two distinct U.S. laws sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). The 1989 Lautenberg Amendment (P.L. 101-167, Section 599A of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act) granted persecuted Soviet religious minorities, especially Jews, presumptive refugee status for U.S. immigration, presuming their refugee eligibility and enabling over 500,000 to immigrate to the United States. The 1996 Lautenberg Amendment (enacted as § 658 of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997; Pub. L. 104-208, Div. A, Title I, §101(f) [Title VI, §658], 110 Stat. 3009-372; signed by President Bill Clinton on September 30, 1996) prohibits any person convicted of a 'misdemeanor crime of domestic violence' (MCDV) from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving firearms or ammunition (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)). An MCDV is defined as any state, federal, or tribal misdemeanor that has, as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a physical force or deadly weapon, committed against a current or former spouse, co-parent, cohabitant, or similar domestic relation (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)). Exceptions apply if the conviction has been expunged, set aside, pardoned, or if civil rights (including firearm rights) have been restored, unless restoration expressly prohibits firearm possession.