[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1934 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1934

 To apply in fiscal year 2009 the exemption of returning workers from 
the numerical limitations for seasonal nonimmigrant workers in order to 
 provide short-term immediate relief to small and seasonal businesses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 2, 2009

 Mr. Kratovil (for himself, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Stupak, Mr. Wittman, Mr. 
Delahunt, and Mr. Garrett of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To apply in fiscal year 2009 the exemption of returning workers from 
the numerical limitations for seasonal nonimmigrant workers in order to 
 provide short-term immediate relief to small and seasonal businesses.

    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 ``American Job and Seasonal Business 
Preservation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The H-2B visa program provides for the temporary 
        admission of nonimmigrant aliens to the United States to 
        perform temporary non-agricultural work.
            (2) Under current law, the Department of Labor must 
        certify, upon application by a United States employer intending 
        to petition for the admission of nonimmigrant H-2B workers, 
        that there are not enough able and qualified United States 
        workers available for the position sought to be filled and that 
        the employment of the foreign workers will not adversely affect 
        the wages and working conditions of similarly employed United 
        States workers.
            (3) Under current law, a nonimmigrant H-2B worker is 
        required to have a residence in a foreign country which the 
        worker has no intention of abandoning. The worker must be 
        coming to the United States to perform only temporary service 
        or labor for a limited period of time.
            (4) The H-2B visa program is currently limited to 66,000 
        nonimmigrant visas per fiscal year. This number is insufficient 
        to meet the current labor demands of small and seasonal 
        businesses, especially summer seasonal employers with needs in 
        the second half of the fiscal year.
            (5) In 2005 and 2006, the Congress passed legislation 
        exempting nonimmigrant workers who counted against the H-2B 
        visa cap in any one of the 3 previous fiscal years from being 
        counted again against the cap. This provision expired in 2007 
        and small and seasonal businesses across the country are now 
        facing a labor shortage, due to the temporary nature of these 
        jobs, and the unavailability of United States workers who are 
        willing or able to consider these temporary seasonal positions.
            (6) Our economy is in recession and last month alone the 
        Nation lost an estimated 651,000 jobs, according to the Bureau 
        of Labor Statistics. Thousands of full-time American jobs 
        depend on temporary seasonal positions.
            (7) According to a recent University of Maryland report, 
        for each H-2B nonimmigrant worker in the crab industry who is 
        denied entry due to the numerical limitation on the visa 
        category, an estimated 2.5 American jobs are lost.
            (8) The Congress must take every step to preserve American 
        jobs, and without immediate relief many small and seasonal 
        businesses could be forced out of business, thereby costing 
        additional American jobs.
            (9) There is broad consensus that the H-2B visa program 
        should be comprehensively reformed. Until this occurs, however, 
        an extension of the returning worker exemptions enacted in 2005 
        and 2006 is an appropriate interim solution.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide small and 
seasonal businesses the labor force they need to survive until broader 
H-2B program reform can occur.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION IN FISCAL YEAR 2009 OF RETURNING WORKER EXEMPTION 
              TO H-2B NUMERICAL LIMITATION.

    Section 214(g)(9)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1184(g)(9)(A)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``2004, 2005, or 2006'' and inserting 
        ``2006, 2007, or 2008''; and
            (2) by striking ``2007'' and inserting ``2009''.
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