[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 352 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 352

     To revise certain requirements for H-2B employers and require 
 submission of information regarding H-2B nonimmigrants, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 10, 2005

   Ms. Mikulski (for herself, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Warner, Mr. 
Chafee, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Levin, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Allen, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. 
 Jeffords, Ms. Collins, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Reed, 
  Mr. Dayton, and Mr. Kerry) introduced the following bill; which was 
       read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To revise certain requirements for H-2B employers and require 
 submission of information regarding H-2B nonimmigrants, 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 ``Save Our Small and Seasonal 
Businesses Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS ON H-2B WORKERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 214(g) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(9) An alien counted toward the numerical limitations of 
paragraph (1)(B) during any one of the 3 fiscal years prior to the 
submission of a petition for a nonimmigrant worker described in section 
101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) may not be counted toward such limitation for the 
fiscal year in which the petition is approved.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendment in subsection (a) shall take 
        effect as if enacted on October 1, 2004, and shall expire on 
        October 1, 2006.
            (2) Implementation.--Not later than the date of enactment 
        of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall begin 
        accepting and processing petitions filed on behalf of aliens 
        described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b), in a manner 
        consistent with this Act and the amendments made by this Act.

SEC. 3. FRAUD PREVENTION AND DETECTION FEE.

    (a) Imposition of Fee.--Section 214(c) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(c)), as amended by section 426(a) of 
division J of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Public Law 
108-447), is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(13)(A) In addition to any other fees authorized by law, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall impose a fraud prevention and 
detection fee on an employer filing a petition under paragraph (1) for 
nonimmigrant workers described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b).
    ``(B) The amount of the fee imposed under subparagraph (A) shall be 
$150.''.
    (b) Use of Fees.--
            (1) Fraud prevention and detection account.--Subsection (v) 
        of section 286 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
        1356), as added by section 426(b) of division J of the 
        Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Public Law 108-447), is 
        amended--
                    (A) in paragraphs (1), (2)(A), (2)(B), (2)(C), and 
                (2)(D) by striking ``H1-B and L'' each place it 
                appears;
                    (B) in paragraph (1), as amended by subparagraph 
                (A), by striking ``section 214(c)(12)'' and inserting 
                ``paragraph (12) or (13) of section 214(c)'';
                    (C) in paragraphs (2)(A)(i) and (2)(B), as amended 
                by subparagraph (A), by striking ``(H)(i)'' each place 
                it appears and inserting ``(H)(i), (H)(ii), ''; and
                    (D) in paragraph (2)(D), as amended by subparagraph 
                (A), by inserting before the period at the end ``or for 
                programs and activities to prevent and detect fraud 
                with respect to petitions under paragraph (1) or (2)(A) 
                of section 214(c) to grant an alien nonimmigrant status 
                described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--The heading of such subsection 
        286 is amended by striking ``H1-B and L''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 
shall take effect on October 1, 2005.

SEC. 4. SANCTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 214(c) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(c)), as amended by section 3, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(14)(A) If the Secretary of Homeland Security finds, after notice 
and an opportunity for a hearing, a substantial failure to meet any of 
the conditions of the petition to admit or otherwise provide status to 
a nonimmigrant worker under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) or a willful 
misrepresentation of a material fact in such petition--
            ``(i) the Secretary of Homeland Security may, in addition 
        to any other remedy authorized by law, impose such 
        administrative remedies (including civil monetary penalties in 
        an amount not to exceed $10,000 per violation) as the Secretary 
        of Homeland Security determines to be appropriate; and
            ``(ii) the Secretary of Homeland Security may deny 
        petitions filed with respect to that employer under section 204 
        or paragraph (1) of this subsection during a period of at least 
        1 year but not more than 5 years for aliens to be employed by 
        the employer.
    ``(B) The Secretary of Homeland Security may delegate to the 
Secretary of Labor, with the agreement of the Secretary of Labor, any 
of the authority given to the Secretary of Homeland Security under 
subparagraph (A)(i).
    ``(C) In determining the level of penalties to be assessed under 
subparagraph (A), the highest penalties shall be reserved for willful 
failures to meet any of the conditions of the petition that involve 
harm to United States workers.
    ``(D) In this paragraph, the term `substantial failure' means the 
willful failure to comply with the requirements of this section that 
constitutes a significant deviation from the terms and conditions of a 
petition.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on October 1, 2005.

SEC. 5. ALLOCATION OF H-2B VISAS DURING A FISCAL YEAR.

    Section 214(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1184(g)), as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph:
    ``(10) The numerical limitations of paragraph (1)(B) shall be 
allocated for a fiscal year so that the total number of aliens who 
enter the United States pursuant to a visa or other provision of 
nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) during the first 
6 months of such fiscal year is not more than 33,000.''.

SEC. 6. SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS OF INFORMATION REGARDING H-2B 
              NONIMMIGRANTS.

    Section 416 of the American Competitiveness and Workforce 
Improvement Act of 1998 (title IV of division C of Public Law 105-277; 
8 U.S.C. 1184 note) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Attorney General'' each place that term 
        appears and inserting ``Secretary of Homeland Security''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Provision of Information.--
            ``(1) Quarterly notification.--Beginning not later than 
        March 1, 2006, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall notify, 
        on a quarterly basis, the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
        Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of House of 
        Representatives of the number of aliens who during the 
        preceding 1-year period--
                    ``(A) were issued visas or otherwise provided 
                nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) 
                of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b)); or
                    ``(B) had such a visa or such status expire or be 
                revoked or otherwise terminated.
            ``(2) Annual submission.--Beginning in fiscal year 2007, 
        the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit, on an annual 
        basis, to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of 
        Representatives and the Senate--
                    ``(A) information on the countries of origin of, 
                occupations of, and compensation paid to aliens who 
                were issued visas or otherwise provided nonimmigrant 
                status under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) of the 
                Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b)) during the previous fiscal year;
                    ``(B) the number of aliens who had such a visa or 
                such status expire or be revoked or otherwise 
                terminated during each month of such fiscal year; and
                    ``(C) the number of aliens who were provided 
                nonimmigrant status under such section during both such 
                fiscal year and the preceding fiscal year.
            ``(3) Information maintained by state.--If the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security determines that information maintained by the 
        Secretary of State is required to make a submission described 
        in paragraph (1) or (2), the Secretary of State shall provide 
        such information to the Secretary of Homeland Security upon 
        request.''.
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