[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2804 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2804

To require employers to certify that they have not and will not lay off 
 a large number of employees before they are allowed to employ foreign 
         workers in the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 19, 2009

  Mr. Sanders (for himself and Mr. Grassley) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require employers to certify that they have not and will not lay off 
 a large number of employees before they are allowed to employ foreign 
         workers in the United States, 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 ``Employ America Act''.

SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Homeland Security may not approve 
a petition by an employer for any visa authorizing employment in the 
United States unless the employer has provided written certification, 
under penalty of perjury, to the Secretary of Labor that--
            (1) the employer has not provided a notice of a mass layoff 
        pursuant to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification 
        Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) during the 12-month period 
        immediately preceding the date on which the alien is scheduled 
        to be hired; and
            (2) the employer does not intend to provide a notice of a 
        mass layoff pursuant to such Act.
    (b) Effect of Mass Layoff.--If an employer provides a notice of a 
mass layoff pursuant to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining 
Notification Act after the approval of a visa described in subsection 
(a), any visas approved during the most recent 12-month period for such 
employer shall expire on the date that is 60 days after the date on 
which such notice is provided. The expiration of a visa under this 
subsection shall not be subject to judicial review.
    (c) Notice Requirement.--Upon receiving notification of a mass 
layoff from an employer, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
inform each employee whose visa is scheduled to expire under subsection 
(b)--
            (1) the date on which such individual will no longer be 
        authorized to work in the United States; and
            (2) the date on which such individual will be required to 
        leave the United States unless the individual is otherwise 
        authorized to remain in the United States.
    (d) Exemption.--An employer shall be exempt from the requirements 
under this section if the employer provides written certification, 
under penalty of perjury, to the Secretary of Labor that the total 
number of the employer's workers who are United States citizens and are 
working in the United States have not been, and will not be, reduced as 
a result of a mass layoff described in subsection (b).

SEC. 3. RULEMAKING.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Labor shall 
promulgate regulations to carry out this Act, including a requirement 
that employers provide notice to the Secretary of Homeland Security of 
a mass layoff (as defined in section 2 of the Worker Adjustment and 
Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101)).
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