[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1259 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1259

   To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to the 
                   admission of nonimmigrant nurses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2001

 Mr. Brownback (for himself, Mr. Graham, and Mr. Helms) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to the 
                   admission of nonimmigrant nurses.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural and Urban Health Care Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION OF NONIMMIGRANT NURSES.

    (a) Requirements.--Section 212(m) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(m)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(m)(1) The qualifications referred to in the section 
101(a)(15)(i)(c), with respect to an alien who is coming to the United 
States to perform nursing services for a facility, are that the alien--
            ``(A) has obtained a full and unrestricted license to 
        practice professional nursing in the country where the alien 
        obtained nursing education, or has received nursing education 
        in the United States or Canada;
            ``(B) has passed the examination given by the Commission on 
        Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (or has passed another 
        appropriate examination recognized in regulations promulgated 
        in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services), or has a full and unrestricted license under State 
        law to practice professional nursing in the State of intended 
        employment; and
            ``(C) is fully qualified and eligible under the laws 
        (including such temporary or interim licensing requirements 
        which authorize the nurse to be employed) governing the place 
        of intended employment to take the State licensure examination 
        after entry into the United States, and the lack of a social 
        security number shall not indicate a lack of eligibility to 
        take the State licensure examination.
    ``(2)(A) The attestation referred to in section 
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c), with respect to a facility for which an alien will 
perform services, is an attestation as to the following:
            ``(i) The employment of the alien will not adversely affect 
        the wages and working conditions of registered nurses similarly 
        employed at the facility.
            ``(ii) The alien employed by the facility will be paid the 
        wage rate for registered nurses similarly employed by the 
        facility.
            ``(iii) There is not a strike or lockout in the course of a 
        labor dispute, the facility did not lay off and will not lay 
        off a registered staff nurse who provides patient care and who 
        is employed by the facility within the period beginning 90 days 
        before and ending 90 days after the date of filing of any visa 
        petition for clarification of such an alien under section 
        101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c), and the employment of such an alien is not 
        intended or designed to influence an election for a bargaining 
        representative for registered nurses of the facility.
            ``(iv) At the time of the filing of the petition for 
        registered nurses under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c), notice of 
        the filing has been provided by the facility to the bargaining 
        representative of the registered nurses at the facility or, 
        where there is no such bargaining representative, notice of the 
        filing has been provided to the registered nurses employed by 
        the employer at the facility through posting in conspicuous 
        locations.
            ``(v) The facility will not, with respect to any alien 
        issued a visa or otherwise provided nonimmigrant status under 
        section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c)--
                    ``(I) authorize the alien to perform nursing 
                services at any worksite other than a worksite 
                controlled by the facility; or
                    ``(II) transfer the place of employment of the 
                alien from one worksite to another.
    ``(B) A copy of the attestation shall be provided, within 30 days 
of the date of filing, to registered nurses employed at the facility on 
the date of filing.
    ``(C) The Secretary of Labor shall review an attestation only for 
completeness and obvious inaccuracies. Unless the Secretary finds that 
the attestation is incomplete or obviously inaccurate, the Secretary 
shall certify the attestation within 7 calendar days of the date of the 
filing of the attestation. If the attestation is not returned to the 
facility within 7 calendar days, the attestation shall be deemed 
certified.
    ``(D) Subject to subparagraph (F), an attestation under 
subparagraph (A)--
            ``(i) shall expire on the date that is the later of--
                    ``(I) the end of the three-year period beginning on 
                the date of its filing with the Secretary; or
                    ``(II) the end of the period of admission under 
                section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) of the last alien with 
                respect to whose admission it was applied (in 
                accordance with clause (ii)); and
            ``(ii) shall apply to petitions filed during the three-year 
        period beginning on the date of its filing with the Secretary 
        if the facility states in each such petition that it continues 
        to comply with the conditions in the attestation.
    ``(E) A facility may meet the requirements under this paragraph 
with respect to more than one registered nurse in a single petition.
    ``(F)(i) The Secretary shall compile and make available for public 
examination in a timely manner in Washington, D.C., a list identifying 
facilities which have filed petitions for classification of 
nonimmigrants under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) and, for each such 
facility, a copy of the facility's attestation under subparagraph (A) 
and each such petition filed by the facility.
    ``(ii) The Secretary shall establish a process, including 
reasonable time limits, for the receipt, investigation, and disposition 
of complaints respecting a facility's failure to meet conditions 
attested to or a facility's misrepresentation of a material fact in an 
attestation. Complaints may be filed by any aggrieved person or 
organization (including bargaining representatives, associations deemed 
appropriate by the Secretary, and other aggrieved parties as determined 
under regulations of the Secretary, but excluding any governmental 
agency or entity). The Secretary shall conduct an investigation under 
this clause if there is probable cause to believe that a facility 
willfully failed to meet conditions attested to. Subject to the time 
limits established under this clause, this subparagraph shall apply 
regardless of whether or not an attestation is expired or unexpired at 
the time a complaint is filed.
    ``(iii) Under such process, the Secretary shall provide, within 180 
days after the date such a complaint is filed, for a determination as 
to whether or not a basis exists to make a finding described in clause 
(iv). If the Secretary determines that such a basis exists, the 
Secretary shall provide for notice of such determination to the 
interested parties and an opportunity for a hearing on the complaint 
within 60 days of the date of the determination.
    ``(iv) If the Secretary finds, after notice and opportunity for a 
hearing, that a facility (for which an attestation is made) has 
willfully failed to meet a condition attested to or that there was a 
willful misrepresentation of material fact in the attestation, the 
Secretary shall notify the Attorney General of such finding and may, in 
addition, impose such other administrative remedies (including civil 
monetary penalties in an amount not to exceed $1,000 per nurse per 
violation, with the total penalty not to exceed $10,000 per violation) 
as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. Upon receipt of such 
notice, the Attorney General shall not approve petitions filed with 
respect to a facility during a period of at least one year for nurses 
to be employed by the facility.
    ``(v) In addition to the sanctions provided for under clause (iv), 
if the Secretary finds, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, 
that a facility has violated the condition attested to under 
subparagraph (A)(ii) (relating to payment of registered nurses at the 
facility wage rate), the Secretary shall order the facility to provide 
for payment of such amounts of back pay as may be required to comply 
with such condition.
    ``(G)(i) The Secretary shall impose on a facility filing an 
attestation under subparagraph (A) a filing fee in an amount prescribed 
by the Secretary based on the costs of carrying out the Secretary's 
duties under this subsection, but not exceeding $250.
    ``(ii) Fees collected under this subparagraph shall be deposited in 
a fund established for this purpose in the Treasury of the United 
States.
    ``(iii) The collected fees in the fund shall be available to the 
Secretary, to the extent and in such amounts as may be provided in 
appropriations Acts, to cover the costs described in clause (i), in 
addition to any other funds that are available to the Secretary to 
cover such costs.
    ``(3) The period of admission of an alien under section 
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) shall be for an initial period not to exceed three 
years, subject to an extension for a period or periods not to exceed a 
total period of admission of six years.
    ``(4) A facility that has filed a petition under section 
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) to employ a nonimmigrant to perform nursing 
services for the facility--
            ``(A) shall provide the nonimmigrant a wage rate and 
        working conditions commensurate with those of nurses similarly 
        employed by the facility; and
            ``(B) shall not interfere with the right of the 
        nonimmigrant to join or organize a union.
    ``(5)(A) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(iii), the term `lay off', 
with respect to a worker--
            ``(i) means to cause the worker's loss of employment, other 
        than through a discharge for inadequate performance, violation 
        of workplace rules, cause, voluntary departure, voluntary 
        retirement, or the expiration of a grant or contract; but
            ``(ii) does not include any situation in which the worker 
        is offered, as an alternative to such loss of employment, a 
        similar employment opportunity with the same employer at 
        equivalent or higher compensation and benefits than the 
        position from which the employee was discharged, regardless of 
        whether or not the employee accepts the offer.
    ``(B) Nothing in this paragraph is intended to limit an employee's 
or an employer's rights under a collective bargaining agreement or 
other employment contract.
    ``(6) For purposes of this subsection and section 
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c), the term `facility' includes a hospital, nursing 
home, skilled nursing facility, registry, clinic, assisted-living 
center, and an employer who employs any registered nurse in a home 
setting.
    ``(7) Except as otherwise provided, in this subsection, the term 
`Secretary' means the Secretary of Labor.''.
    (b) Implementation.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor (in consultation, to the 
extent required, with the Secretary of Health and Human Services) and 
the Attorney General shall promulgate final or interim final 
regulations to carry out section 212(m) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (as amended by subsection (a)) The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, without regard to whether or not regulations 
to carry out such amendments have been promulgated by such date.

SEC. 3. REPEAL.

    Section 3 of the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999 
(Public Law 106-95; 8 U.S.C. 1182 note; relating to recommendations for 
alternative remedy for nursing shortage) is repealed.

SEC. 4. QUALIFICATION FOR CERTAIN ALIEN NURSES.

    (a) Elimination of Certain Grounds of Inadmissability.--Section 212 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) is amended by 
striking subsections (a)(5)(C) and (r).
    (b) Procedure for Granting Immigrant Status.--Section 204(a)(1)(F) 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(F)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``Any such 
petition filed on behalf of an alien who will be employed as a 
professional nurse shall include evidence that the alien--
                            ``(i) has passed--
                                    ``(I) the examination given by the 
                                Commission on Graduates of Foreign 
                                Nursing Schools (CGFNS); or
                                    ``(II) another appropriate 
                                examination recognized in regulations 
                                promulgated in consultation with the 
                                Secretary of Health and Human Services; 
                                or
                            ``(ii) holds a full and unrestricted 
                        license to practice professional nursing in the 
                        State of intended employment.''.

SEC. 5. WAIVERS OF TWO-YEAR FOREIGN RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 214(l) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(l)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ``20'' and inserting 
        ``40, plus the number of waivers specified in paragraph (4)''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(4) The number of waivers specified in this paragraph is the 
total number of unused waivers allotted to all States for a fiscal year 
divided by the number of States having no unused waivers remaining in 
the allotment to those States for that fiscal year.''.
    (b) Elimination of Termination Date.--Section 220(c) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Public 
Law 103-416, as amended; 8 U.S.C.1182 note) is amended by striking 
``and before June 1, 2002''.

SEC. 6. OTHER MEASURES TO MEET RURAL AND URBAN HEALTH CARE NEEDS.

    (a) Grant Authority.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall award grants to States, local governments, and institutions of 
higher education (as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965) to fund training, recruitment, and other activities to 
increase the supply of domestic registered nurses and other needed 
health care providers.
    (b) Application.--
            (1) In general.--Each eligible entity desiring a grant 
        under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services at such time, in such manner, and 
        accompanied by such information as the Secretary may reasonably 
        require.
            (2) Contents.--Each application submitted pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) shall--
                    (A) describe the activities for which assistance 
                under this section is sought; and
                    (B) provide such additional assurances as the 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services determines to be 
                essential to ensure compliance with the requirements of 
                this section.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this section.
                                 <all>