[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 248 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 248

To modify the requirements applicable to the admission into the United 
 States of H-1C nonimmigrant registered nurses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 2005

   Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To modify the requirements applicable to the admission into the United 
 States of H-1C nonimmigrant registered nurses, and for other purposes.

    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 
2005''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION OF H-1C NONIMMIGRANT NURSES.

    (a) In General.--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 section 
101(a)(15)(H)(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 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 engage in the practice of 
        professional nursing as a registered nurse immediately upon 
        admission to the United States and is authorized under such 
        laws to be employed by the facility, except that, in the case 
        of an alien who is otherwise eligible to take the State 
        licensure examination after entering into the United States, 
        but who has not passed such examination before entering--
                    ``(i) the alien may take such examination not more 
                than twice after entering, but the alien's status as a 
                nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) shall 
                terminate, and the alien shall be required to depart 
                the United States, if the alien does not pass such 
                examination either the first or second time; and
                    ``(ii) the failure of the alien to have obtained a 
                social security account number shall not be deemed a 
                ground of ineligibility to take such 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 by the facility.
            ``(ii) The alien 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 employed by the facility within 
        the period beginning 90 days before and ending 90 days after 
        the date of filing of any visa petition, 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 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.
            ``(vi) 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), require the alien to pay a penalty 
        (as determined under State law) for ceasing employment prior to 
        a date agreed to by the alien and the facility.
    ``(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 shall review the attestation only for 
completeness and obvious inaccuracies. Unless the Secretary finds that 
the attestation is incomplete or obviously inaccurate, the Secretary 
shall provide the certification described in section 
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) within 7 days of the date of the filing of the 
attestation.
    ``(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 3-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 3-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 of this paragraph with 
respect to more than one registered nurse in a single attestation.
    ``(F)(i) The Secretary of Labor shall compile and make available 
for public examination in a timely manner in Washington, D.C., a list 
identifying facilities that have filed petitions for 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 accompanying 
documentation) 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). The Secretary shall conduct an 
investigation under this clause if there is reasonable 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 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 of Labor 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 
prevailing 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 3 
years, and may be extended if the extension does not cause the total 
period of authorized admission as such a nonimmigrant to exceed 6 
years.
    ``(4) The total number of nonimmigrant visas issued pursuant to 
petitions granted under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) in each fiscal year 
shall not exceed 195,000.
    ``(5) 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.
    ``(6) For purposes of this subsection and section 
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c):
            ``(A) 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.
            ``(B)(i) The term `lay off' with respect to a worker (for 
        purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(iii))--
                    ``(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's 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.
            ``(ii) Nothing in this subparagraph is intended to limit an 
        employee's or an employer's rights under a collective 
        bargaining agreement or other employment contract.
            ``(C) The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Labor.''.
    (b) Regulations; Effective Date.--Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, regulations to carry out subsection 
(a) shall be promulgated by the Secretary of Labor, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney 
General. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, regardless of whether such regulations are in 
effect on such date.

SEC. 3. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF WAIVERS OF TWO-YEAR FOREIGN RESIDENCE 
              REQUIREMENT UPON REQUESTS BY STATE AGENCIES.

    Section 214(l)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1184(l)(1)(B)) is amended by striking ``30;'' and inserting 
``40;''.
                                 <all>