[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 142 (Friday, October 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H12293-H12294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      EXTENDING PERIOD OF STAY IN UNITED STATES FOR CERTAIN NURSES

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the Senate bill (S. 2197) to extend the authorized 
period of stay within the United States for certain nurses, and ask for 
its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I am 
concerned that we in fact are extending the stay in this country of 
probably thousands of nurses who come from another country, at a time 
when we do not necessarily have a nursing shortage in America.
  However, I am informed by one of my colleagues, who spent an enormous 
amount of time and effort, from North Carolina, that in his area and in 
several areas of the United States they have a nursing shortage that 
would be exacerbated tremendously if we did not pass this legislation.
  My concern, and I do intend to withdraw my objection, is that these 
nurses are put on notice and those hospitals and nursing homes that are 
using these services are put on notice that this is a one-time 
extension; that we are not granting these nurses that are in question 
in this legislation something that is going to be extended to them 
again and again; and next year when this comes up, it is going to be 
more difficult, because the time when they are legally supposed to 
leave this country will be all at the same day, because this bill 
suggests that their visas are then going to expire, every one of these 
nurses will expire on the same day. But, for the record, I am stating 
that we will make sure and we should ensure that is not the intent of 
this legislation, to extend in perpetuity their right to stay in this 
country.
  Again, I will be withdrawing my reservation, but with the 
understanding that we are not going to just do this every year, and 
their employers and the nurses are on notice that they should use this 
time to start preparing themselves, No. 1, to go back to their home 
country, and, No. 2, to find Americans who can work as nurses in these 
areas in rural North Carolina, as well as in Chicago and elsewhere 
where there are, as I say, spot shortages of nurses.
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, the 
gentleman's statement certainly speaks to the point. The gentleman is 
absolutely correct. That will be the legislative intent.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have become aware of an apparent 
technical error in two provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Title III of the act, based on 
the House-passed version of H.R. 2202, includes a comprehensive reform 
of the procedures for apprehending, adjudicating, and removing illegal 
aliens from the United States. Section 306 of title III overhauls the 
rules regarding judicial review from orders of removal. It was the 
clear intent of the conferees that, as a general matter, the full 
package of changes made by this part of title III effect those cases 
filed in court after the enactment of the new law, leaving cases 
already pending before the courts to continue under existing law.
  The conferees also intended, however, to accelerate the 
implementation of certain of the reforms in title III. This intent is 
clearly spelled out in section 309 of the act. Specifically, section 
309(c)(4) calls for accelerated implementation of some of the reforms 
made in section 306 regarding judicial review, but does not call for 
immediate implementation of all of these reforms. This intent is 
manifest not only in the plain language of section 309(c)(4), but also 
in the statement of managers accompanying the conference report on H.R. 
2202, at pages 222 and 223--Report No. 104-828.
  Unfortunately, a cross-reference in section 309(c)(4) could be read 
to suggest that implementation of the transitional changes in judicial 
review should be delayed until after title III's general effective 
date. This error occurred through adoption of an effective date 
provision from the Senate-passed version of H.R. 2202. In light of the 
specific provisions of section 306(c), the reference in section 
309(c)(4) to cases ``described in paragraph (1)'' should not have been 
included in the conference report. In addition, there is a need to 
clarify the scope of section 306(c) to ensure that it does not conflict 
with section 309(c)(4).
  Section 2 of S. 2197 includes technical corrections to reflect this 
intent.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:

                                S. 2197

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

     SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZED PERIOD OF STAY FOR CERTAIN 
                   NURSES.

       (a) Aliens Who Previously Entered the United States 
     Pursuant to an H-1A Visa.--
       (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, the authorized period of stay in the United States of 
     any nonimmigrant described in paragraph (2) is hereby 
     extended through September 30, 1997.
       (2) Nonimmigrant described.--A nonimmigrant described in 
     this paragraph is a nonimmigrant--
       (A) who entered the United States as a nonimmigrant 
     described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(a) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act;
       (B) who was within the United States on or after September 
     1, 1995, and who is within the United States on the date of 
     the enactment of this Act; and
       (C) whose period of authorized stay has expired or would 
     expire before September 30, 1997 but for the provisions of 
     this section.
       (3) Limitations.--Nothing in this section may be construed 
     to extend the validity of any visa issued to a nonimmigrant 
     described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(a) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act or to authorize the re-entry of any 
     person outside the United States on the date of the enactment 
     of this Act.
       (b) Change of Employment.--A nonimmigrant whose authorized 
     period of stay is extended by operation of this section shall 
     not be eligible to change employers in accordance with 
     section 214.2(h)(2)(i)(D) of title 8, Code of Federal 
     Regulations (as in effect

[[Page H12294]]

     on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act).
       (c) Regulations.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall issue 
     regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.
       (d) Interim Treatment.--A nonimmigrant whose authorized 
     period of stay is extended by operation of this section, and 
     the spouse and child of such nonimmigrant, shall be 
     considered as having continued to maintain lawful status as a 
     nonimmigrant through September 30, 1997.

     SEC. 2. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

       Effective on September 30, 1996, subtitle A of title III of 
     the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility 
     Act of 1996 as amended--
       (1) in section 306(c)(1), by striking ``to all final'' and 
     all that follows through ``Act and'' and inserting ``as 
     provided under section 309, except that'';
       (2) in section 309(c)(1), by striking ``as of'' and 
     inserting ``before''; and
       (3) in section 309(c)(4), by striking ``described in 
     paragraph (1)''.

  The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the 
third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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