[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 98 (Tuesday, July 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8659-S8676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           Medicare Waste Tax Reduction Act of 1998--Summary

       Doubling and Better Targeting Audits and Reviews To Detect 
     and Discourage Abuse. Only a tiny fraction of Medicare claims 
     are reviewed before being paid and less than 2 percent of 
     providers receive a comprehensive audit annually. In order to 
     better detect mistakes and abuses and to provide a more 
     significant deterrent to abuse, the number of medical, 
     utilization and fraud reviews would be doubled. In addition, 
     at least 15% of provider cost reports submitted by home 
     health agencies, skilled nursing facilities and durable 
     medical equipment would be subject to annual audits. The 
     increased reviews would be targeted at services and providers 
     most likely to be subject to abuse.
       Expanding Medicare Senior Waste Patrol Nationwide--Seniors 
     are our front line of defense against Medicare fraud, waste 
     and abuse. However, too often, seniors don't have the 
     information they need to detect and report suspected mistakes 
     and fraud. A program to recruit and train retired nurses, 
     doctors, accountants and others to serve as volunteer 
     resources to meet this need at the local level was 
     established as part of the FY 97 Labor-HHS appropriations 
     bill. This 12 state program has proven successful and would 
     be expanded nationwide.
       Increased Assistance and Education for Providers to Comply 
     with Medicare Rules--A good deal of the mispayments made by 
     Medicare are the result not of fraud or abuse, but of simple 
     misunderstanding of Medicare billing rules by providers. 
     Therefore, this bill provides $10 million a year to fund a 
     major expansion of assistance and education for providers on 
     program integrity requirements.
       Reducing Paperwork and Administrative Hassle for 
     Providers--Health professionals have to spend too much time 
     completing paperwork and dealing with administrative hassles 
     associated with Medicare and private health plans. In order 
     to reduce this hassle and provide more time for patient care, 
     the

[[Page S8660]]

     Institute of Medicine would be charged with developing a 
     comprehensive plan by no later than June 1, 1999. Their 
     recommendations are to include the streamlining of variations 
     between Medicare and other payers.
       Making Medicare a More Prudent Purchaser--As passed by the 
     Senate, the Balanced Budget Act gave Medicare the authority 
     to quickly reduce Part B payment rates (except those made for 
     physician services) it finds to be grossly excessive when 
     compared to rates paid by other government programs and the 
     private sector. In conference, the provision was limited to 
     reductions of no more than 15 percent. This bill would 
     restore the original Senate language. In addition, to assure 
     that Medicare gets the price it deserves given its status as 
     by far the largest purchaser of medical supplies and 
     equipment, Medicare would pay no more than any other 
     government program for these items. Finally, overpayments for 
     prescription drugs and biologicals would be eliminated by 
     lowering Medicare's rate to the lowest of either the actual 
     acquisition cost or 95% of the wholesale cost.
       Using State of the Art Private Sector Technology to Reduce 
     Billing Errors and Abuse--The GAO and Medicare agree that 
     taxpayers could save over $400 million a year simply by 
     employing up to date computer software developed by the 
     private sector to detect and stop billing errors and abuse. 
     This bill would require Medicare to promptly employ private 
     sector edits determined compatible with Medicare payment 
     policy.
       Improving Oversight of Home Health Agencies--Medicare 
     oversight of home health care services would be strengthened. 
     The Secretary would be required to conduct validation surveys 
     of at least 5 percent of the agencies surveyed by every 
     state. This would provide greater assurance that problem 
     agencies are identified and help to reduce variation among 
     states in inspection and enforcement.
       Closing Loophole in Anti-Kickback Law for Managed Care--
     Provisions of HIPAA created a broadened exception from 
     Medicare's anti-kickback rules for any arrangement where a 
     medical provider is at ``substantial financial risk'' through 
     ``any risk arrangement.'' This broad exception may be serving 
     as a loophole to get around important anti-kickback 
     protections. It would be eliminated, returning to pre-HIPAA 
     law.
       Expanding Criminal Penalties For Kickbacks--Criminal 
     penalties upon persons violating the federal anti-kickback 
     provisions with respect to private health care benefit 
     programs. It will also authorize the Attorney General to 
     bring civil actions in U.S. District Courts to impose civil 
     penalties and treble damages on violators. There will be no 
     diminution of the existing authority of any agency of the 
     U.S. Government to administer and enforce the criminal laws 
     of the United States.
       Extending Subpoena And Injunction Authority--Medicare's 
     ability to gather evidence in fraud and abuse cases would be 
     strengthened by extending the Secretary's testimonial 
     subpoena power and injunctive authority for civil monetary 
     penalties to other administrative sanctions such as 
     exclusions from the program.
       Stopping Abusive Billings for Services Ordered by Excluded 
     Providers--While current law provides for penalties against 
     billing for services directly rendered by a provider who has 
     been excluded from Medicare for criminal or other serious 
     violations, no such authority exists for services or items 
     prescribed or ordered by these providers. This provision 
     would close the loophole by establishing civil monetary 
     penalties for anyone who knows or should know that they are 
     submitting claims for services ordered or prescribed by an 
     excluded provider.
       Combating Abuse of Hospice and Partial Hospitalization 
     Benefits--Recent reviews have identified significant waste 
     and abuse in the new Medicare partial hospitalizatio benefit. 
     Abuse would be deterred by making a number of reforms to this 
     benefit and authorize the Secretary to begin a prospective 
     payment system. A new civil monetary penalty against doctors 
     who knowingly provide false certification that an individual 
     meets Medicare requirements to receive these services would 
     also be established. A similar provision already exists for 
     false certification of home health services.
       Protecting Medicare Against Bankruptcy Abuses--Under 
     current law it is possible for providers to use bankruptcy as 
     a shield against Medicare and Medicaid penalties and 
     overpayment recoveries. This provision would protect Medicare 
     in a number of ways, including: A provider would still be 
     liable to refund overpayments and pay penalties and fines 
     even if he or she filed for bankruptcy. If Medicare law and 
     bankruptcy law conflict, Medicare law would prevail. 
     Bankruptcy courts would not be able to re-adjudicate Medicare 
     coverage or payment decisions.
       Ensuring Medicare Does Not Pay for Claims Owed by Other 
     Plans--Too often, Medicare pays claims that are owed by 
     private insurers because it has no way of knowing a 
     beneficiary is working and has private insurance that should 
     pay first. This provision would reduce Medicare losses by 
     requiring insurers to report any Medicare beneficiaries they 
     insure. Also, Medicare would be given the authority to 
     recover double the amount owed by insurers who purposely let 
     Medicare pay claims they should have paid.
       Improving Coordination with Private Sector in Combating 
     Medicare Fraud--Often, those ripping off Medicare are also 
     defrauding private health plans. Yet, too little information 
     on fraud cases is shared between Medicare and private plans. 
     In order to encourage better coordination, health plans and 
     their employees could not be held liable for sharing 
     information with Medicare regarding health care fraud as long 
     as the information is not false, or the person providing the 
     information had no reason to believe the information was 
     false.
       Self-Funding Plan for Medicare Provider and Supplier 
     Agreements--In order to provide the resources necessary to 
     stop bogus or unqualified providers from billing Medicare, 
     the Secretary may impose fees for the initial and or renewal 
     of provider agreements. This will allow for more on-site 
     visits of those seeking provider numbers to assure that the 
     provider or supplier actually exists and is legitimate.
       Balanced Budget Act Technical Changes--Several technical 
     changes to Balanced Budget Act provisions relating to health 
     care fraud are made.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. SANTORUM (for himself and Mr. Specter):
  S. 2336. A bill to amend chapter 5 of title 28, United States Code, 
to transfer Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, from the Eastern Judicial 
District of Pennsylvania to the Middle Judicial District of 
Pennsylvania; to the Committee on the Judiciary.


                united states district court legislation

 Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, today I introduce legislation 
transferring Schuylkill County from the Eastern Judicial District of 
Pennsylvania to the Middle District. I am pleased to work on this 
needed effort with the senior Senator from Pennsylvania Senator 
Spector, who has signed on as an original cosponsor.
  Many of the residents of Schuylkill County have voiced concern about 
the hardship they face in performing jury duty as they are often forced 
to travel as far as Philadelphia. Most of the counties adjacent to 
Schuylkill County are in the Middle District, where courtrooms are 
generally twice as close as those in Philadelphia. In addition, 
transferring Schuylkill County will help relieve the Eastern District 
of its much larger caseload.
  Both the Chief Judge of the Eastern District, Edward Cahn, and of the 
Middle District, Sylvia Rambo, have raised no objections with this 
transfer. The Schuylkill County Bar Association, the Schuylkill County 
District Attorney, and numerous judges and attorneys have expressed 
strong support.
  This legislation serves as a companion bill to H.R. 2123, a bill 
introduced by my esteemed colleague in the House of Representatives, 
Representative Tim Holden, whose district includes Schuylkill County. 
Representative Holden has worked diligently on passage of his bill or 
over a year, including a successful effort at incorporating its 
provisions into the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1998. H.R. 2294, 
which passed the House on March 18, 1998. I congratulate my colleague 
on his success. Now, it is the responsibility of myself and Senator 
Specter to shepherd this legislation through the Senate.
  I look forward to working with the Chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee, Senator Hatch, and the Ranking Member, Senator Leahy, and 
the rests of my colleagues in securing passage of much needed 
legislation.
  Mr. PRESIDENT, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2336

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

     SECTION 1. TRANSFER OF COUNTY.

       Section 118 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a) by striking ``Philadelphia, and 
     Schuylkill'' and inserting ``and Philadelphia''; and
       (2) in subsection (b) by inserting ``Schuylkill,'' after 
     ``Potter,''.

     SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       (a) In General.--This Act and the amendments made by this 
     Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.
       (b) Pending Cases Not Affected.--This Act and the 
     amendments made by this Act shall not affect any action 
     commenced before the effective date of this Act and pending 
     on such date in the United States District Court for the 
     Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
       (c) Juries Not Affected.--This Act and the amendments made 
     by this Act shall not affect the composition, or preclude the 
     service, of any grand or petit jury summoned, impaneled, or 
     actually serving on the effective date of this Act.

[[Page S8661]]

                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. SMITH of Oregon (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Craig, Mr. 
        Graham, Mr. Gorton, Mr. Bumpers, Mr. Hatch, Mr. McConnell, and 
        Mr. Mack):
  S. 2337. A bill to establish a system of registries of temporary 
agricultural workers to provide for a sufficient supply of such workers 
and to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to streamline 
procedures for the admission and extension of stay of nonimmigrant 
agricultural workers, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.


     agriculture job opportunity benefits and security act of 1998

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, today legislation is being introduced by my 
colleague from Oregon, Gordon Smith, along with Senators Wyden, Graham 
of Florida, Gorton, Bumpers, and McConnell. This bill would deal with a 
situation that is a problem today and could well be a crisis tomorrow. 
The Senate now has an opportunity to do what our Federal Government 
does all too rarely, and that is fix a problem in a timely and 
commonsense fashion before it inflicts great hurt on millions of 
Americans.
  Mr. President, I am talking about agricultural growers and their need 
for a stable, predictable, legal workforce that would receive good, 
fair, market-based compensation.
  I am talking about unemployed workers and those hoping to move from 
welfare to work, who want and need to be matched up with agricultural 
jobs, if possible. American citizens should have first claim to 
American jobs. All workers would rather be working legally and know 
they can claim full legal protections only when their employment 
situation is open and lawful.
  Farm employers need to be provided with a secure work force. Workers 
need to be assured of basic legal and labor standard protections.
  These goals are not being met today. In fact, current federal law, 
and its bureaucratic implementation, are hurting growers and workers.
  In fact, current Federal laws and their bureaucratic implementation 
are hurting both growers and workers. This is why I am pleased to join 
with my colleagues in the introduction of what we will call AgJOBS. 
This stands for the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security 
Act.
  This bill will represent the culmination of work that has been going 
on for years amongst our colleagues, to resolve the issue of the 
necessary labor force for American agriculture. We have examined all of 
the issues involved with trying to ensure a supply of legal temporary 
and seasonal labor. We understand that that employers in many cases 
need guest workers and that employees, domestic and guest workers, need 
more and better jobs. We have looked at all sides. The result is a 
consensus bill that we think is nothing less than remarkable, and I 
commend my colleagues on this very important bipartisan effort.
  The key elements of our bipartisan proposal would include the 
following: The creation of a new, voluntary, national registry of 
migrant farm workers to which growers can turn for workers they know 
are legal. If enough domestic workers could not be supplied through the 
registry, growers could apply for legal guest workers through an 
expedited, reformed H-2A program. The new program would resemble the 
current H-2A program, but it would have much, much faster turnaround, 
less red tape, and greater certainty for employers, continued 
protections for workers, and greater flexibility for employers, related 
to conditions of employment such as housing, transportation, and 
market-based wages.
  The crisis is at hand not only on the farm but with the worker who is 
attempting to get across our borders today. With the tremendous heat in 
the South right now, there are warnings out to workers hoping for a job 
opportunity in this country: Do not try to traffic the area or you 
could die--simply by using the transportation methods in which so many 
workers are travelling today. Current law has created a phenomenal 
situation that is most inhumane.
  Two years ago, Senators Wyden, Gorton, and others joined with me in 
requiring the General Accounting Office to study the current H-2A Guest 
Worker Program.
  As a result, the GAO has estimated that at least 37 percent of all 
farm workers in the United States are not here legally, not legally 
qualified to work. How they got the figure is amazing: They went out 
and asked, and the workers, by self-disclosure, admitted that they were 
here illegally.
  The current H-2A program has been a red tape nightmare.
  Too often, when growers need a timely response to their needs, with 
produce in the field, it cannot be done.
  Even when growers meet all the deadlines the Government sets for 
them, then the Government fails to meet its own deadlines. In fact, 
GAO's study found that, when growers made timely applications, the 
Department of Labor still missed statutory deadlines 40 percent of the 
time.
  The bureaucracy grinds to a halt sometimes because it doesn't 
understand the needs in the field, and sometimes because it doesn't 
want to supply the workforce.
  Current H-2A has been completely ineffective as a means of obtaining 
temporary and seasonal workers, supplying only about 24,000 out of the 
1.6 million farm workers necessary on an annual basis.
  In the 1996 immigration law, and in appropriations over recent years, 
Congress has made it a priority to secure our borders and crack down on 
illegal immigrants.
  That is exactly what we want and what our citizens want.
  But as a result, serious spot shortages of farm labor are multiplying 
from Florida to New England, Kentucky to Colorado--to California and 
Idaho, and across the Nation.
  For example, California growers and local officials have made a real 
effort to address the shortfall with welfare-to-work efforts. But it is 
not happening. We are at near full employment in our economy. People 
are simply not available to do agricultural-style work. And sometimes 
the needs of agriculture are uniquely not matched to the needs or 
capabilities of available domestic workers.
  Because of the robust counterfeit ID industry and current Federal 
laws, we have many of these illegals moving into our country who are, 
in fact, carrying what appear to be legal credentials. Employers do not 
want that to happen, but the law actually punishes them if they are too 
diligent in inquiring about the legal status of job applicants. Current 
law has created an unwinnable Catch-22 for employers. Most have no 
realistic way of ensuring their work force is entirely legal.
  A single Immigration and Naturalization Service raid, netting a 
handful of illegal workers, can scare and clean out thousands of 
workers in surrounding counties. It happened just a few weeks ago in 
the Georgia onion fields. The employers in such cases typically have 
complied with the law. But, of course, the crops were left rotting in 
the fields. That is not what the American farmer needs. It is certainly 
not what the American consumers need.
  As workers disappear from U.S. fields, and crops stay there instead 
of moving to the stores, not only are the farmers hurt, as I mentioned, 
but consumers are hurt. And then we have to reach inevitably toward an 
effort to import foods, much of which may not meet our health and 
safety standards. This means a mainstay of our economy, the U.S. 
agriculture industry, is threatened with a major breakdown. This means 
that our families are threatened with the increased risk of exposure to 
food-borne illnesses on imported, foreign foods. And it happens simply 
because the current H-2A system won't supply the kind of labor that is 
necessary.
  Let's be humane and let's be responsible. Let's move the AgJOBS bill 
introduced today, so it can be signed on the President's desk and 
become law this year. It is critically necessary that we do this.
  We have reached out to the Department of Labor to work with them and 
be sensitive to their concerns in the crafting of this legislation to 
streamline the H-2A program. We have tried to anticipate and answer 
every objection that might be raised to this kind of reform. We have 
tried to solve problems before bringing this bill to the floor.
  I thank my colleagues for this tremendous effort, especially Senator 
Gordon Smith of Oregon, Senator Wyden, Senator Graham of Florida, and 
Senator Gorton, who have worked

[[Page S8662]]

very closely, to make this legislation a reality.
  We think this bill will create a win-win situation so those who wish 
to enter our country to work at our agricultural jobs can enter 
legally, so they can enter in a safe way instead of in the backs of 
trucks or almost literally in tin cans where, as a result of tragic 
accidents, they oftentimes lose their lives. We saw another tragic 
example of this in recent days.
  We can do better. We can pass the AgJOBS reforms. I am pleased to be 
a part of the introduction of this legislation today.
  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I rise today with Senators Wyden, 
Craig, Graham of Florida, Gorton, Bumpers, Hatch, McConnell, and Mack 
to introduce the Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act 
of 1998, also known as AgJOBS. Our bill will create a streamlined guest 
worker program to allow for a reliable supply of legal, temporary, 
agricultural workers.
  Mr. President, we are facing a crisis in agriculture--a crisis born 
of an inadequate labor supply. For many years, farmers and nurserymen 
have struggled to hire enough legal agricultural workers to harvest 
their produce and plants. The labor pool is competitive, especially in 
my state of Oregon, where jobs are many and domestic workers willing to 
do farm work are few. The General Accounting Office even confirmed that 
there have been local, regional and crop-based labor shortages and 
losses.
  Labor intensive agriculture is the most rapidly growing area of 
agricultural production in this country and we can only expect the 
demand for agricultural labor jobs to continue to rise. When coupled 
with the lowest unemployment rates in decades and a crackdown on 
illegal immigration, the agriculture industry--and ultimately its 
consumers--face a crisis.
  Currently, the H-2A program is the only legal, temporary, foreign 
agricultural worker program in the United States. This program is not 
practicable for the agriculture and horticulture industries because it 
is loaded with burdensome regulations, excessive paperwork, a 
bureaucratic certification process and untimely and inconsistent 
decision-making by the U.S. Department of Labor. Also, as reported by 
the recent Department of Labor Inspector General, the H-2A program does 
not meet the interests of domestic workers because it does a poor job 
of placing domestic workers in agricultural jobs.
  I am proud to announce legislation that is the product of a 
bipartisan effort put forth today by several of my colleagues. With 
their help, we have been able to develop a consensus solution that will 
create a workable system for recruiting workers domestically and 
preventing crops from rotting in the fields. The bipartisan support for 
this bill reflects months of hard work by members of both parties.
  Mr. President, as we introduce this balanced bill, we have two goals 
in mind--to make it easier for employers to hire legal workers to 
harvest their crops, and to ensure that workers are treated fairly in 
the process. These workers deserve the dignity of legal status when 
they are here doing work that benefits all of us.
  I'm very concerned that workers are protected, but let's not forget 
that growers have been victimized by this process too. In order to feed 
their families--and ours--the growers need to harvest their crops on 
time, meet payroll, and ultimately maintain their bottom line. Without 
achieving those things, farms go out of business and the jobs they 
create are lost along with them. So it is in all of our best 
interests--workers, growers, and consumers alike--that growers have the 
means by which to hire needed workers. I believe our legislation will 
help achieve that goal.
  Mr. President, let me briefly summarize the improvements our bill 
makes over the current H-2A program.
  First and foremost, all of the labor protections currently in place 
for workers have been preserved. In fact, they have been improved 
substantially. Domestic workers under the new program will now receive 
unemployment insurance and all complaints filed by workers will be 
investigated by the Department of Labor. Also, foreign workers under 
the new program will retain their ability to transfer to other H-2A 
farms once they've completed work with their current employer. These 
provisions will ensure that the rights of workers--both foreign and 
domestic--continue to be protected.
  We've also improved the housing provision in the existing H-2A 
program, currently another barrier for many farmers. For instance, in 
my state of Oregon, our strict land use laws prohibit building on farm 
land. This means that many farms do not have housing to offer and 
therefore cannot use the H-2A program. Under our new bill, we allow 
employers the option of providing a housing allowance to workers if 
housing cannot be provided. This change will make it possible for many 
more farmers to use the guest worker program, and guest workers will 
still receive housing benefits.
  To be fair to domestic workers, we also created a process that would 
make agriculture jobs available to them first. The bureaucratic and 
untimely labor certification process of the H-2A program will be 
replaced by a registry which uses existing DOL job bank computers to 
match domestic workers seeking jobs with employers seeking workers. If 
job openings still exist, then employers will be allowed to bring in 
temporary foreign workers to fill the open jobs.
  In order for employers to offer these and other protections, the 
program has to be more practical to use. In our bill, we have 
streamlined the impractical time-frame requirements for applying to the 
program. Currently, farmers must apply for H-2A workers 60 days before 
they think they will need workers. In a very unpredictable industry, 
this requirement is a barrier for many farmers. In our bill, we have 
reduced this time period to 21 days, making the program much more 
responsive to the unpredictable nature of agriculture crops and much 
more practical for use by farmers.
  Our legislation makes many other improvements to the existing H-2A 
program--for both employers and workers. As a result, we can expect 
more growers to use it, and consequently, we can expect more domestic 
and foreign workers to benefit from the ample wage and labor 
protections afforded by it.
  Let's not make fugitives out of farmworkers and felons out of 
farmers. That is the effect of our current guest worker program.
  I urge my fellow colleagues to join Senators Wyden, Craig, Graham, 
Gorton, Bumpers, Hatch, Feinstein, McConnell, Mack and me as we 
introduce this important bipartisan legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this legislation, along 
with the list of over 100 agriculture-related associations that endorse 
this bill, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2337

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the 
     ``Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act of 
     1998''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Agricultural worker registries.
Sec. 4. Employer applications and assurances.
Sec. 5. Search of registry.
Sec. 6. Issuance of visas and admission of aliens.
Sec. 7. Employment requirements.
Sec. 8. Enforcement and penalties.
Sec. 9. Alternative program for the admission of temporary H-2A 
              workers.
Sec. 10. Inclusion in employment-based immigration preference 
              allocation.
Sec. 11. Migrant and seasonal Head Start program.
Sec. 12. Regulations.
Sec. 13. Funding from Wagner-Peyser Act.
Sec. 14. Effective date.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Adverse effect wage rate.--The term ``adverse effect 
     wage rate'' means the rate of pay for an agricultural 
     occupation that is 5-percent above the prevailing rate of pay 
     for that agricultural occupation in an area of intended 
     employment, if the average hourly equivalent of the 
     prevailing rate of pay for the occupation is less than the 
     prior year's average hourly earnings of field and livestock 
     workers for the State (or region that includes the State), as 
     determined by the

[[Page S8663]]

     Secretary of Agriculture. No adverse effect wage rate shall 
     be more than the prior year's average hourly earnings of 
     field and livestock workers for the State (or region that 
     includes the State), as determined by the Secretary of 
     Agriculture.
       (2) Agricultural employment.--The term ``agricultural 
     employment'' means any service or activity included within 
     the provisions of section 3(f) of the Fair Labor Standards 
     Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(f)) or section 3121(g) of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the handling, planting, 
     drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, or grading 
     prior to delivery for storage of any agricultural or 
     horticultural commodity in its unmanufactured state.
       (3) Eligible.--The term ``eligible'' as used with respect 
     to workers or individuals, means individuals authorized to be 
     employed in the United States as provided for in section 
     274A(h)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1188).
       (4) Employer.--The term ``employer'' means any person or 
     entity, including any independent contractor and any 
     agricultural association, that employs workers.
       (5) Job opportunity.--The term ``job opportunity'' means a 
     specific period of employment for a worker in one or more 
     specified agricultural activities.
       (6) Prevailing wage.--The term ``prevailing wage'' means 
     with respect to an agricultural activity in an area of 
     intended employment, the rate of wages that includes the 51st 
     percentile of employees in that agricultural activity in the 
     area of intended employment, expressed in terms of the 
     prevailing method of pay for the agricultural activity in the 
     area of intended employment.
       (7) Registered worker.--The term ``registered worker'' 
     means an individual whose name appears in a registry.
       (8) Registry.--The term ``registry'' means an agricultural 
     worker registry established under section 3(a).
       (9) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Labor.
       (10) United states worker.--The term ``United States 
     worker'' means any worker, whether a United States citizen, a 
     United States national, or an alien who is authorized to work 
     in the job opportunity within the United States other than an 
     alien admitted pursuant to section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) or 
     218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as in effect on 
     the effective date of this Act.

     SEC. 3. AGRICULTURAL WORKER REGISTRIES.

       (a) Establishment of Registries.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of Labor shall establish and 
     maintain a system of registries containing a current database 
     of eligible United States workers who seek to perform 
     temporary or seasonal agricultural work and the employment 
     status of such workers--
       (A) to ensure that eligible United States workers are 
     informed about available agricultural job opportunities;
       (B) to maximize the work period for eligible United States 
     workers; and
       (C) to provide timely referral of such workers to temporary 
     and seasonal agricultural job opportunities in the United 
     States.
       (2) Coverage.--
       (A) Single state or group of states.--Each registry 
     established under paragraph (1) shall include the job 
     opportunities in a single State, or a group of contiguous 
     States that traditionally share a common pool of seasonal 
     agricultural workers.
       (B) Requests for inclusion.--Each State requesting 
     inclusion in a registry, or having any group of agricultural 
     producers seeking to utilize the registry, shall be 
     represented by a registry or by a registry of contiguous 
     States.
       (b) Registration.--
       (1) In general.--An eligible individual who seeks 
     employment in temporary or seasonal agricultural work may 
     apply to be included in the registry for the State or States 
     in which the individual seeks employment. Such application 
     shall include--
       (A) the name and address of the individual;
       (B) the period or periods of time (including beginning and 
     ending dates) during which the individual will be available 
     for temporary or seasonal agricultural work;
       (C) the registry or registries on which the individual 
     desires to be included;
       (D) the specific qualifications and work experience 
     possessed by the applicant;
       (E) the type or types of temporary or seasonal agricultural 
     work the applicant is willing to perform;
       (F) such other information as the applicant wishes to be 
     taken into account in referring the applicant to temporary or 
     seasonal agricultural job opportunities; and
       (G) such other information as may be required by the 
     Secretary.
       (2) Validation of employment authorization.--No person may 
     be included on any registry unless the Attorney General has 
     certified to the Secretary of Labor that the person is 
     authorized to be employed in the United States.
       (3) Workers referred to job opportunities.--The name of 
     each registered worker who is referred and accepts employment 
     with an employer pursuant to section 5 shall be classified as 
     inactive on each registry on which the worker is included 
     during the period of employment involved in the job to which 
     the worker was referred, unless the worker reports to the 
     Secretary that the worker is no longer employed and is 
     available for referral to another job opportunity. A 
     registered worker classified as inactive shall not be 
     referred pursuant to section 5.
       (4) Removal of names from a registry.--The Secretary shall 
     remove from all registries the name of any registered worker 
     who, on 3 separate occasions within a 3-month period, is 
     referred to a job opportunity pursuant to this section, and 
     who declines such referral or fails to report to work in a 
     timely manner.
       (5) Voluntary removal.--A registered worker may request 
     that the worker's name be removed from a registry or from all 
     registries.
       (6) Removal by expiration.--The application of a registered 
     worker shall expire, and the Secretary shall remove the name 
     of such worker from all registries if the worker has not 
     accepted a job opportunity pursuant to this section within 
     the preceding 12-month period.
       (7) Reinstatement.--A worker whose name is removed from a 
     registry pursuant to paragraph (4), (5), or (6) may apply to 
     the Secretary for reinstatement to such registry at any time.
       (c) Confidentiality of Registries.--The Secretary shall 
     maintain the confidentiality of the registries established 
     pursuant to this section, and the information in such 
     registries shall not be used for any purposes other than 
     those authorized in this Act.
       (d) Advertising of Registries.--The Secretary shall widely 
     disseminate, through advertising and other means, the 
     existence of the registries for the purpose of encouraging 
     eligible United States workers seeking temporary or seasonal 
     agricultural job opportunities to register.

     SEC. 4. EMPLOYER APPLICATIONS AND ASSURANCES.

       (a) Applications to the Secretary.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 21 days prior to the date 
     on which an agricultural employer desires to employ a 
     registered worker in a temporary or seasonal agricultural job 
     opportunity, the employer shall apply to the Secretary for 
     the referral of a United States worker through a search of 
     the appropriate registry, in accordance with section 5. Such 
     application shall--
       (A) describe the nature and location of the work to be 
     performed;
       (B) list the anticipated period (expected beginning and 
     ending dates) for which workers will be needed;
       (C) indicate the number of job opportunities in which the 
     employer seeks to employ workers from the registry;
       (D) describe the bona fide occupational qualifications that 
     must be possessed by a worker to be employed in the job 
     opportunity in question;
       (E) describe the wages and other terms and conditions of 
     employment the employer will offer, which shall not be less 
     (and are not required to be more) than those required by this 
     section;
       (F) contain the assurances required by subsection (c); and
       (G) specify the foreign country or region thereof from 
     which alien workers should be admitted in the case of a 
     failure to refer United States workers under this Act.
       (2) Applications by associations on behalf of employer 
     members.--
       (A) In general.--An agricultural association may file an 
     application under paragraph (1) for registered workers on 
     behalf of its employer members.
       (B) Employers.--An application under subparagraph (A) shall 
     cover those employer members of the association that the 
     association certifies in its application have agreed in 
     writing to comply with the requirements of this Act.
       (b) Amendment of Applications.--Prior to receiving a 
     referral of workers from a registry, an employer may amend an 
     application under this subsection if the employer's need for 
     workers changes. If an employer amends an application on a 
     date which is later than 21 days prior to the date on which 
     the workers on the amended application are sought to be 
     employed, the Secretary may delay issuance of the report 
     described in section 5(b) by the number of days by which the 
     filing of the amended application is later than 21 days 
     before the date on which the employer desires to employ 
     workers.
       (c) Assurances.--The assurances referred to in subsection 
     (a)(1)(F) are the following:
       (1) Assurance that the job opportunity is not a result of a 
     labor dispute.--The employer shall assure that the job 
     opportunity for which the employer requests a registered 
     worker is not vacant because a worker is involved in a 
     strike, lockout, or work stoppage in the course of a labor 
     dispute involving the job opportunity at the place of 
     employment.
       (2) Assurance that the job opportunity is temporary or 
     seasonal.--
       (A) Required assurance.--The employer shall assure that the 
     job opportunity for which the employer requests a registered 
     worker is temporary or seasonal.
       (B) Seasonal basis.--For purposes of this Act, labor is 
     performed on a seasonal basis where, ordinarily, the 
     employment pertains to or is of the kind exclusively 
     performed at certain seasons or periods of the year and 
     which, from its nature, may not be continuous or carried on 
     throughout the year.
       (C) Temporary basis.--For purposes of this Act, a worker is 
     employed on a temporary basis where the employment is 
     intended not to exceed 10 months.
       (3) Assurance of provision of required wages and 
     benefits.--The employer shall assure that the employer will 
     provide the wages and benefits required by subsections (a), 
     (b), and (c) of section 7 to all workers employed in job 
     opportunities for which the

[[Page S8664]]

     employer has applied under subsection (a) and to all other 
     workers in the same occupation at the place of employment.
       (4) Assurance of employment.--The employer shall assure 
     that the employer will refuse to employ individuals referred 
     under section 5, or terminate individuals employed pursuant 
     to this Act, only for lawful job-related reasons, including 
     lack of work.
       (5) Assurance of compliance with labor laws.--
       (A) In general.--An employer who requests registered 
     workers shall assure that, except as otherwise provided in 
     this Act, the employer will comply with all applicable 
     Federal, State, and local labor laws, including laws 
     affecting migrant and seasonal agricultural workers, with 
     respect to all United States workers and alien workers 
     employed by the employer.
       (B) Limitations.--The disclosure required under section 
     201(a) of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker 
     Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1821(a)) may be made at any time 
     prior to the time the alien is issued a visa permitting entry 
     into the United States.
       (6) Assurance of advertising of the registry.--The employer 
     shall assure that the employer will, from the day an 
     application for workers is submitted under subsection (a), 
     and continuing throughout the period of employment of any job 
     opportunity for which the employer has applied for a worker 
     from the registry, post in a conspicuous place a poster to be 
     provided by the Secretary advertising the availability of the 
     registry.
       (7) Assurance of contacting former workers.--The employer 
     shall assure that the employer has made reasonable efforts 
     through the sending of a letter by United States Postal 
     Service mail, or otherwise, to contact any eligible worker 
     the employer employed during the previous season in the 
     occupation at the place of intended employment for which the 
     employer is applying for registered workers, and has made the 
     availability of the employer's job opportunities in the 
     occupation at the place of intended employment known to such 
     previous worker, unless the worker was terminated from 
     employment by the employer for a lawful job-related reason or 
     abandoned the job before the worker completed the period of 
     employment of the job opportunity for which the worker was 
     hired.
       (8) Assurance of provision of workers compensation.--The 
     employer shall assure that if the job opportunity is not 
     covered by the State workers' compensation law, that the 
     employer will provide, at no cost to the worker, insurance 
     covering injury and disease arising out of and in the course 
     of the worker's employment which will provide benefits at 
     least equal to those provided under the State workers' 
     compensation law for comparable employment.
       (9) Assurance of unemployment insurance coverage.--The 
     employer shall assure that if the employer's employment is 
     not covered employment under the State's unemployment 
     insurance law, the employer will provide unemployment 
     insurance coverage for the employer's United States workers 
     at the place of employment for which the employer has applied 
     for workers under subsection (a).
       (d) Withdrawal of Applications.--
       (1) In general.--An employer may withdraw an application 
     under subsection (a), except that, if the employer is an 
     agricultural association, the association may withdraw an 
     application under subsection (a) with respect to one or more 
     of its members. To withdraw an application, the employer 
     shall notify the Secretary in writing, and the Secretary 
     shall acknowledge in writing the receipt of such withdrawal 
     notice. An employer who withdraws an application under 
     subsection (a), or on whose behalf an application is 
     withdrawn, is relieved of the obligations undertaken in the 
     application.
       (2) Limitation.--An application may not be withdrawn while 
     any alien provided status under this Act pursuant to such 
     application is employed by the employer.
       (3) Obligations under other statutes.--Any obligation 
     incurred by an employer under any other law or regulation as 
     a result of recruitment of United States workers under an 
     offer of terms and conditions of employment required as a 
     result of making an application under subsection (a) is 
     unaffected by withdrawal of such application.
       (e) Review of Application.--
       (1) In general.--Promptly upon receipt of an application by 
     an employer under subsection (a), the Secretary shall review 
     the application for compliance with the requirements of such 
     subsection.
       (2) Approval of applications.--If the Secretary determines 
     that an application meets the requirements of subsection (a), 
     and the employer is not ineligible to apply under paragraph 
     (2), (3), or (4) of section 8(b), the Secretary shall, not 
     later than 7 days after the receipt of such application, 
     approve the application and so notify the employer.
       (3) Rejection of applications.--If the Secretary determines 
     that an application fails to meet 1 or more of the 
     requirements of subsection (a), the Secretary, as 
     expeditiously as possible, but in no case later than 7 days 
     after the receipt of such application, shall--
       (A) notify the employer of the rejection of the application 
     and the reasons for such rejection, and provide the 
     opportunity for the prompt resubmission of an amended 
     application; and
       (B) offer the applicant an opportunity to request an 
     expedited administrative review or a de novo administrative 
     hearing before an administrative law judge of the rejection 
     of the application.
       (4) Rejection for program violations.--The Secretary shall 
     reject the application of an employer under this section if 
     the employer has been determined to be ineligible to employ 
     workers under section 8(b) or subsection (b)(2) of section 
     218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188).

     SEC. 5. SEARCH OF REGISTRY.

       (a) Search Process and Referral to the Employer.--Upon the 
     approval of an application under section 4(e), the Secretary 
     shall promptly begin a search of the registry of the State 
     (or States) in which the work is to be performed to identify 
     registered workers with the qualifications requested by the 
     employer. The Secretary shall contact such qualified 
     registered workers and determine, in each instance, whether 
     the worker is ready, willing, and able to accept the 
     employer's job opportunity and will commit to work for the 
     employer at the time and place needed. The Secretary shall 
     provide to each worker who commits to work for the employer 
     the employer's name, address, telephone number, the location 
     where the employer has requested that employees report for 
     employment, and a statement disclosing the terms and 
     conditions of employment.
       (b) Deadline for Completing Search Process; Referral of 
     Workers.--As expeditiously as possible, but not later than 7 
     days before the date on which an employer desires work to 
     begin, the Secretary shall complete the search under 
     subsection (a) and shall transmit to the employer a report 
     containing the name, address, and social security account 
     number of each registered worker who has committed to work 
     for the employer on the date needed, together with sufficient 
     information to enable the employer to establish contact with 
     the worker. The identification of such registered workers in 
     a report shall constitute a referral of workers under this 
     section.
       (c) Notice of Insufficient Workers.--If the report provided 
     to the employer under subsection (b) does not include 
     referral of a sufficient number of registered workers to fill 
     all of the employer's job opportunities in the occupation for 
     which the employer applied under section 4(a), the Secretary 
     shall indicate in the report the number of job opportunities 
     for which registered workers could not be referred, and 
     promptly transmit a copy of the report to the Attorney 
     General and the Secretary of State, by electronic or other 
     means ensuring next day delivery.

     SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF VISAS AND ADMISSION OF ALIENS.

       (a) In General.--
       (1) Number of admissions.--The Secretary of State shall 
     promptly issue visas to, and the Attorney General shall 
     admit, a sufficient number of eligible aliens designated by 
     the employer to fill the job opportunities of the employer--
       (A) upon receipt of a copy of the report described in 
     section 5(c);
       (B) upon receipt of an application (or copy of an 
     application under subsection (b));
       (C) upon receipt of the report required by subsection 
     (c)(1)(B); or
       (D) upon receipt of a report under subsection (d).
       (2) Procedures.--The admission of aliens under paragraph 
     (1) shall be subject to the procedures of section 218A of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by this Act.
       (3) Agricultural associations.--Aliens admitted pursuant to 
     a report described in paragraph (1) may be employed by any 
     member of the agricultural association that has made the 
     certification required by section 4(a)(2)(B).
       (b) Direct Application Upon Failure To Act.--
       (1) Application to the secretary of state.--If the employer 
     has not received a referral of sufficient workers pursuant to 
     section 5(b) or a report of insufficient workers pursuant to 
     section 5(c), by the date that is 7 days before the date on 
     which the work is anticipated to begin, the employer may 
     submit an application for alien workers directly to the 
     Secretary of State, with a copy of the application provided 
     to the Attorney General, seeking the issuance of visas to and 
     the admission of aliens for employment in the job 
     opportunities for which the employer has not received 
     referral of registered workers. Such an application shall 
     include a copy of the employer's application under section 
     4(a), together with evidence of its timely submission. The 
     Secretary of State may consult with the Secretary of Labor in 
     carrying out this paragraph.
       (2) Expedited consideration by secretary of state.--The 
     Secretary of State shall, as expeditiously as possible, but 
     not later than 5 days after the employer files an application 
     under paragraph (1), issue visas to, and the Attorney General 
     shall admit, a sufficient number of eligible aliens 
     designated by the employer to fill the job opportunities for 
     which the employer has applied under that paragraph.
       (c) Redetermination of Need.--
       (1) Requests for redetermination.--
       (A) In general.--An employer may file a request for a 
     redetermination by the Secretary of the needs of the employer 
     if--
       (i) a worker referred from the registry is not at the place 
     of employment on the date of need shown on the application, 
     or the date the work for which the worker is needed has 
     begun, whichever is later;
       (ii) the worker is not ready, willing, able, or qualified 
     to perform the work required; or

[[Page S8665]]

       (iii) the worker abandons the employment or is terminated 
     for a lawful job-related reason.
       (B) Additional authorization of admissions.--The Secretary 
     shall expeditiously, but in no case later than 72 hours after 
     a redetermination is requested under subparagraph (A), submit 
     a report to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General 
     providing notice of a need for workers under this subsection.
       (2) Job-related requirements.--An employer shall not be 
     required to initially employ a worker who fails to meet 
     lawful job-related employment criteria, nor to continue the 
     employment of a worker who fails to meet lawful, job-related 
     standards of conduct and performance, including failure to 
     meet minimum production standards after a 3-day break-in 
     period.
       (d) Emergency Applications.--Notwithstanding subsections 
     (b) and (c), the Secretary may promptly transmit a report to 
     the Attorney General and Secretary of State providing notice 
     of a need for workers under this subsection for an employer--
       (1) who has not employed aliens under this Act in the 
     occupation in question in the prior year's agricultural 
     season;
       (2) who faces an unforeseen need for workers (as determined 
     by the Secretary); and
       (3) with respect to whom the Secretary cannot refer able, 
     willing, and qualified workers from the registry who will 
     commit to be at the employer's place of employment and ready 
     for work within 72 hours or on the date the work for which 
     the worker is needed has begun, whichever is later.
       (e) Regulations.--The Secretary of State shall prescribe 
     regulations to provide for the designation of aliens under 
     this section.

     SEC. 7. EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS.

       (a) Required Wages.--
       (1) In general.--An employer applying under section 4(a) 
     for workers shall offer to pay, and shall pay, all workers in 
     the occupation or occupations for which the employer has 
     applied for workers from the registry, not less (and is not 
     required to pay more) than the greater of the prevailing wage 
     in the occupation in the area of intended employment or the 
     adverse effect wage rate.
       (2) Payment of prevailing wage determined by a state 
     employment security agency sufficient.--In complying with 
     paragraph (1), an employer may request and obtain a 
     prevailing wage determination from the State employment 
     security agency. If the employer requests such a 
     determination, and pays the wage required by paragraph (1) 
     based upon such a determination, such payment shall be 
     considered sufficient to meet the requirement of paragraph 
     (1).
       (3) Reliance on wage survey.--In lieu of the procedure of 
     paragraph (2), an employer may rely on other information, 
     such as an employer-generated prevailing wage survey and 
     determination that meets criteria specified by the Secretary.
       (4) Alternative methods of payment permitted.--
       (A) In general.--A prevailing wage may be expressed as an 
     hourly wage, a piece rate, a task rate, or other incentive 
     payment method, including a group rate. The requirement to 
     pay at least the prevailing wage in the occupation and area 
     of intended employment does not require an employer to pay by 
     the method of pay in which the prevailing rate is expressed, 
     except that, if the employer adopts a method of pay other 
     than the prevailing rate, the burden of proof is on the 
     employer to demonstrate that the employer's method of pay is 
     designed to produce earnings equivalent to the earnings that 
     would result from payment of the prevailing rate.
       (B) Compliance when paying an incentive rate.--In the case 
     of an employer that pays a piece rate or task rate or uses 
     any other incentive payment method, including a group rate, 
     the employer shall be considered to be in compliance with any 
     applicable hourly wage requirement if the average of the 
     hourly earnings of the workers, taken as a group, the 
     activity for which a piece rate, task rate, or other 
     incentive payment, including a group rate, is paid, for the 
     pay period, is at least equal to the required hourly wage.
       (C) Task rate.--For purposes of this paragraph, the term 
     ``task rate'' means an incentive payment method based on a 
     unit of work performed such that the incentive rate varies 
     with the level of effort required to perform individual units 
     of work.
       (D) Group rate.--For purposes of this paragraph, the term 
     ``group rate'' means an incentive payment method in which the 
     payment is shared among a group of workers working together 
     to perform the task.
       (b) Requirement To Provide Housing.--
       (1) In general.--An employer applying under section 4(a) 
     for registered workers shall offer to provide housing at no 
     cost (except for charges permitted by paragraph (5)) to all 
     workers employed in job opportunities to which the employer 
     has applied under that section, and to all other workers in 
     the same occupation at the place of employment, whose 
     permanent place of residence is beyond normal commuting 
     distance.
       (2) Type of housing.--In complying with paragraph (1), an 
     employer may, at the employer's election, provide housing 
     that meets applicable Federal standards for temporary labor 
     camps or secure housing that meets applicable local standards 
     for rental or public accommodation housing or other 
     substantially similar class of habitation, or, in the absence 
     of applicable local standards, State standards for rental or 
     public accommodation housing or other substantially similar 
     class of habitation.
       (3) Workers engaged in the range production of livestock.--
     The Secretary shall issue regulations that address the 
     specific requirements for the provision of housing to workers 
     engaged in the range production of livestock.
       (4) Limitation.--Nothing in this subsection shall be 
     construed to require an employer to provide or secure housing 
     for persons who were not entitled to such housing under the 
     temporary labor certification regulations in effect on June 
     1, 1986.
       (5) Charges for housing.--
       (A) Utilities and maintenance.--An employer who provides 
     housing to a worker pursuant to paragraph (1) may charge an 
     amount equal to the fair market value (but not greater than 
     the employer's actual cost) for maintenance and utilities, or 
     such lesser amount as permitted by law.
       (B) Security deposit.--An employer who provides housing to 
     workers pursuant to paragraph (1) may require, as a condition 
     for providing such housing, a deposit not to exceed $50 from 
     workers occupying such housing to protect against gross 
     negligence or willful destruction of property.
       (C) Damages.--An employer who provides housing to workers 
     pursuant to paragraph (1) may require a worker found to have 
     been responsible for damage to such housing which is not the 
     result of normal wear and tear related to habitation to 
     reimburse the employer for the reasonable cost of repair of 
     such damage.
       (6) Reduced user fee for workers provided housing.--An 
     employer shall receive a credit of 40 percent of the payment 
     otherwise due pursuant to section 218(b) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act on the earnings of alien workers to whom 
     the employer provides housing pursuant to paragraph (1).
       (7) Housing allowance as alternative.--
       (A) In general.--In lieu of offering housing pursuant to 
     paragraph (1), subject to subparagraphs (B) through (D), the 
     employer may on a case-by-case basis provide a reasonable 
     housing allowance. An employer who offers a housing allowance 
     to a worker pursuant to this subparagraph shall not be deemed 
     to be a housing provider under section 203 of the Migrant and 
     Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1823) 
     solely by virtue of providing such housing allowance.
       (B) Limitation.--At any time after the date that is 3 years 
     after the effective date of this Act, the governor of the 
     State may certify to the Secretary that there is not 
     sufficient housing available in an area of intended 
     employment of migrant farm workers or aliens provided status 
     pursuant to this Act who are seeking temporary housing while 
     employed at farm work. Such certification may be canceled by 
     the governor of the State at any time, and shall expire after 
     5 years unless renewed by the governor of the State.
       (C) Effect of certification.--If the governor of the State 
     makes the certification of insufficient housing described in 
     subparagraph (A) with respect to an area of employment, 
     employers of workers in that area of employment may not offer 
     the housing allowance described in subparagraph (A) after the 
     date that is 5 years after such certification of insufficient 
     housing for such area, unless the certification has expired 
     or been canceled pursuant to subparagraph (B).
       (D) Amount of allowance.--The amount of a housing allowance 
     under this paragraph shall be equal to the statewide average 
     fair market rental for existing housing for nonmetropolitan 
     counties for the State in which the employment occurs, as 
     established by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
     pursuant to section 8(c) of the United States Housing Act of 
     1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)), based on a 2-bedroom dwelling unit 
     and an assumption of 2 persons per bedroom.
       (c) Reimbursement of Transportation.--
       (1) To place of employment.--A worker who is referred to a 
     job opportunity under section 5(a), or an alien employed 
     pursuant to this Act, who completes 50 percent of the period 
     of employment of the job opportunity for which the worker was 
     hired, may apply to the Secretary for reimbursement of the 
     cost of the worker's transportation and subsistence from the 
     worker's permanent place of residence (or place of last 
     employment, if the worker traveled from such place) to the 
     place of employment to which the worker was referred under 
     section 5(a).
       (2) From place of employment.--A worker who is referred to 
     a job opportunity under section 5(a), or an alien employed 
     pursuant to this Act, who completes the period of employment 
     for the job opportunity involved, may apply to the Secretary 
     for reimbursement of the cost of the worker's transportation 
     and subsistence from the place of employment to the worker's 
     permanent place of residence (or place of next employment, if 
     the worker travels from the place of current employment to a 
     subsequent place of employment and is otherwise ineligible 
     for reimbursement under paragraph (1) with respect to such 
     subsequent place of employment).
       (3) Limitation.--
       (A) Amount of reimbursement.--Except as provided in 
     subparagraph (B), the amount of reimbursement provided under 
     paragraph (1) or (2) to a worker or alien shall not exceed 
     the lesser of--

[[Page S8666]]

       (i) the actual cost to the worker or alien of the 
     transportation and subsistence involved; or
       (ii) the most economical and reasonable transportation and 
     subsistence costs that would have been incurred had the 
     worker or alien used an appropriate common carrier, as 
     determined by the Secretary.
       (B) Distance traveled.--No reimbursement under paragraph 
     (1) or (2) shall be required if the distance traveled is 100 
     miles or less.
       (4) Use of trust fund.--Reimbursements made by the 
     Secretary to workers or aliens under this subsection shall be 
     considered to be administrative expenses for purposes of 
     section 218A(b)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 
     added by this Act.
       (d) Establishment of Pilot Program for Advancing 
     Transportation Costs.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a pilot 
     program for the issuance of vouchers to United States workers 
     who are referred to job opportunities under section 5(a) for 
     the purpose of enabling such workers to purchase common 
     carrier transportation to the place of employment.
       (2) Limitation.--A voucher may only be provided to a worker 
     under paragraph (1) if the job opportunity involved requires 
     that the worker temporarily relocate to a place of employment 
     that is more than 100 miles from the worker's permanent place 
     of residence or last place of employment, and the worker 
     attests that the worker cannot travel to the place of 
     employment without such assistance from the Secretary.
       (3) Number of vouchers.--The Secretary shall award vouchers 
     under the pilot program under paragraph (1) to workers 
     referred from each registry in proportion to the number of 
     workers registered with each such registry.
       (4) Reimbursement.--
       (A) Use of trust fund.--Reimbursements for the cost of 
     vouchers provided by the Secretary under this subsection for 
     workers who complete at least 50 percent of the period of 
     employment of the job opportunity for which the worker was 
     hired shall be considered to be administrative expenses for 
     purposes of section 218A(b)(4) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act, as added by this Act.
       (B) Of secretary.--A worker who receives a voucher under 
     this subsection who fails to complete at least 50 percent of 
     the period of employment of the job opportunity for which the 
     worker was hired under the job opportunity involved shall 
     reimburse the Secretary for the cost of the voucher.
       (5) Report and continuation of program.--
       (A) Collection of data.--The Secretary shall collect data 
     on--
       (i) the extent to which workers receiving vouchers under 
     this subsection report, in a timely manner, to the jobs to 
     which such workers have been referred;
       (ii) whether such workers complete the job opportunities 
     involved; and
       (iii) the extent to which such workers do not complete at 
     least 50 percent of the period of employment the job 
     opportunities for which the workers were hired.
       (B) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the expiration 
     of the second fiscal year during which the program under this 
     subsection is in operation, the Secretary, in consultation 
     with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall prepare and submit 
     to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 
     Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, a 
     report, based on the data collected under subparagraph (A), 
     concerning the results of the program established under this 
     section. Such report shall contain the recommendations of the 
     Secretary concerning the termination or continuation of such 
     program.
       (C) Termination of program.--The recommendations of the 
     Secretary in the report submitted under subparagraph (B) 
     shall become effective upon the expiration of the 90-day 
     period beginning on the date on which such report is 
     submitted unless Congress enacts a joint resolution 
     disapproving such recommendations.
       (d) Continuing Obligation To Employ United States 
     Workers.--
       (1) In general.--An employer that applies for registered 
     workers under section 4(a) shall, as a condition for the 
     approval of such application, continue to offer employment to 
     qualified, eligible United States workers who are referred 
     under section 5(b) after the employer receives the report 
     described in section 5(b).
       (2) Limitation.--An employer shall not be obligated to 
     comply with paragraph (1)--
       (A) after 50 percent of the anticipated period of 
     employment shown on the employer's application under section 
     4(a) has elapsed; or
       (B) during any period in which the employer is employing no 
     aliens in the occupation for which the United States worker 
     was referred; or
       (C) during any period when the Secretary is conducting a 
     search of a registry for job opportunities in the occupation 
     and area of intended employment to which the worker has been 
     referred, or other occupations in the area of intended 
     employment for which the worker is qualified that offer 
     substantially similar terms and conditions of employment.
       (3) Limitation on requirement to provide housing.--
     Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, an employer 
     to whom a registered worker is referred pursuant to paragraph 
     (1) may provide a reasonable housing allowance to such 
     referred worker in lieu of providing housing if the employer 
     does not have sufficient housing to accommodate the referred 
     worker and all other workers for whom the employer is 
     providing housing or has committed to provide housing.
       (4) Referral of workers during 50-percent period.--The 
     Secretary shall make all reasonable efforts to place a 
     registered worker in an open job acceptable to the worker, 
     including available jobs not listed on the registry, before 
     referring such worker to an employer for a job opportunity 
     already filled by, or committed to, an alien admitted 
     pursuant to this Act.

     SEC. 8. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES.

       (a) Enforcement Authority.--
       (1) Investigation of complaints.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a process 
     for the receipt, investigation, and disposition of complaints 
     respecting an employer's failure to meet a condition 
     specified in section 4 or an employer's misrepresentation of 
     material facts in an application under that section. 
     Complaints may be filed by any aggrieved person or any 
     organization (including bargaining representatives). No 
     investigation or hearing shall be conducted on a complaint 
     concerning such a failure or misrepresentation unless the 
     complaint was filed not later than 12 months after the date 
     of the failure or misrepresentation, as the case may be. The 
     Secretary shall conduct an investigation under this paragraph 
     if there is reasonable cause to believe that such a failure 
     or misrepresentation has occurred.
       (B) Statutory construction.--Nothing in this Act limits the 
     authority of the Secretary of Labor to conduct any compliance 
     investigation under any other labor law, including any law 
     affecting migrant and seasonal agricultural workers or, in 
     the absence of a complaint under this paragraph, under this 
     Act.
       (2) Written notice of finding and opportunity for appeal.--
     After an investigation has been conducted, the Secretary 
     shall issue a written determination as to whether or not any 
     violation described in subsection (b) has been committed. The 
     Secretary's determination shall be served on the complainant 
     and the employer, and shall provide an opportunity for an 
     appeal of the Secretary's decision to an administrative law 
     judge, who may conduct a de novo hearing.
       (b) Remedies.--
       (1) Back wages.--Upon a final determination that the 
     employer has failed to pay wages as required under this 
     section, the Secretary may assess payment of back wages due 
     to any United States worker or alien described in section 
     101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
     employed by the employer in the specific employment in 
     question. The back wages shall be equal to the difference 
     between the amount that should have been paid and the amount 
     that actually was paid to such worker.
       (2) Failure to pay wages.--Upon a final determination that 
     the employer has failed to pay the wages required under this 
     Act, the Secretary may assess a civil money penalty up to 
     $1,000 for each failure, and may recommend to the Attorney 
     General the disqualification of the employer from the 
     employment of aliens described in section 
     101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
     for a period of time determined by the Secretary not to 
     exceed 1 year.
       (3) Other violations.--If the Secretary, as a result of an 
     investigation pursuant to a complaint, determines that an 
     employer covered by an application under section 4(a) has--
       (A) filed an application that misrepresents a material 
     fact; or
       (B) failed to meet a condition specified in section 4,

     the Secretary may assess a civil money penalty not to exceed 
     $1,000 for each violation and may recommend to the Attorney 
     General the disqualification of the employer for substantial 
     violations in the employment of any United States workers or 
     aliens described in section 101(a)(15)(ii)(a) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act for a period of time 
     determined by the Secretary not to exceed 1 year. In 
     determining the amount of civil money penalty to be assessed, 
     or whether to recommend disqualification of the employer, the 
     Secretary shall consider the seriousness of the violation, 
     the good faith of the employer, the size of the business of 
     the employer being charged, the history of previous 
     violations by the employer, whether the employer obtained a 
     financial gain from the violation, whether the violation was 
     willful, and other relevant factors.
       (4) Program disqualification.--
       (A) 3 years for second violation.--Upon a second final 
     determination that an employer has failed to pay the wages 
     required under this Act or committed other substantial 
     violations under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall report 
     such determination to the Attorney General and the Attorney 
     General shall disqualify the employer from the employment of 
     aliens described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act for a period of 3 years.
       (B) Permanent for third violation.--Upon a third final 
     determination that an employer has failed to pay the wages 
     required under this section, or committed other substantial 
     violations under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall report 
     such determination to the Attorney General, and the Attorney 
     General shall disqualify the employer from any subsequent 
     employment of aliens described in section 
     101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

[[Page S8667]]

       (c) Role of Associations.--
       (1) Violation by a member of an association.--An employer 
     on whose behalf an application is filed by an association 
     acting as its agent is fully responsible for such 
     application, and for complying with the terms and conditions 
     of this Act, as though the employer had filed the application 
     itself. If such an employer is determined to have violated a 
     requirement of this section, the penalty for such violation 
     shall be assessed against the employer who committed the 
     violation and not against the association or other members of 
     the association.
       (2) Violation by an association acting as an employer.--If 
     an association filing an application on its own behalf as an 
     employer is determined to have committed a violation under 
     this subsection which results in disqualification from the 
     program under subsection (b), no individual member of such 
     association may be the beneficiary of the services of an 
     alien described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act in an occupation in which 
     such alien was employed by the association during the period 
     such disqualification is in effect, unless such member files 
     an application as an individual employer or such application 
     is filed on the employer's behalf by an association with 
     which the employer has an agreement that the employer will 
     comply with the requirements of this Act.

     SEC. 9. ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM FOR THE ADMISSION OF TEMPORARY H-
                   2A WORKERS.

       (a) Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act.--
       (1) Election of procedures.--Section 214(c)(1) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(c)(1)) is 
     amended--
       (A) by striking the fifth and sixth sentences;
       (B) by striking ``(c)(1) The'' and inserting ``(c)(1)(A) 
     Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), in the case of the 
     importing of any nonimmigrant alien described in section 
     101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), the importing employer may elect to 
     import the alien under the procedures of section 218 or 
     section 218A, except that any employer that applies for 
     registered workers under section 4(a) of the Agricultural Job 
     Opportunity Benefits and Security Act of 1998 shall import 
     nonimmigrants described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) only 
     in accordance with section 218A. For purposes of subparagraph 
     (A), with respect to the importing of nonimmigrants under 
     section 218, the term `appropriate agencies of Government' 
     means the Department of Labor and includes the Department of 
     Agriculture.''.
       (2) Alternative program.--The Immigration and Nationality 
     Act is amended by inserting after section 218 (8 U.S.C. 1188) 
     the following new section:


   ``ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM FOR THE ADMISSION OF TEMPORARY H-2A WORKERS

       ``Sec. 218A. (a) Procedure for Admission or Extension of 
     Aliens.--
       ``(1) Aliens who are outside the united states.--
       ``(A) Criteria for admissibility.--
       ``(i) In general.--An alien described in section 
     101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
     shall be admissible under this section if the alien is 
     designated pursuant to section 6 of the Agricultural Job 
     Opportunity Benefits and Security Act of 1998, otherwise 
     admissible under this Act, and the alien is not ineligible 
     under clause (ii).
       ``(ii) Disqualification.--An alien shall be ineligible for 
     admission to the United States or being provided status under 
     this section if the alien has, at any time during the past 5 
     years--

       ``(I) violated a material provision of this section, 
     including the requirement to promptly depart the United 
     States when the alien's authorized period of admission under 
     this section has expired; or
       ``(II) otherwise violated a term or condition of admission 
     to the United States as a nonimmigrant, including overstaying 
     the period of authorized admission as such a nonimmigrant.

       ``(iii) Initial waiver of ineligibility for unlawful 
     presence.--An alien who has not previously been admitted to 
     the United States pursuant to this section, and who is 
     otherwise eligible for admission in accordance with clauses 
     (i) and (ii), shall not be deemed inadmissible by virtue of 
     section 212(a)(9)(B).
       ``(B) Period of admission.--The alien shall be admitted for 
     the period requested by the employer not to exceed 10 months, 
     or the ending date of the anticipated period of employment on 
     the employer's application for registered workers, whichever 
     is less, plus an additional period of 14 days, during which 
     the alien shall seek authorized employment in the United 
     States. During the 14-day period following the expiration of 
     the alien's work authorization, the alien is not authorized 
     to be employed unless an employer who is authorized to employ 
     such worker has filed an extension of stay on behalf of the 
     alien pursuant to paragraph (2).
       ``(C) Abandonment of employment.--
       ``(i) In general.--An alien admitted or provided status 
     under this section who abandons the employment which was the 
     basis for such admission or providing status shall be 
     considered to have failed to maintain nonimmigrant status as 
     an alien described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) and shall 
     depart the United States or be subject to removal under 
     section 237(a)(1)(C)(i).
       ``(ii) Report by employer.--The employer (or association 
     acting as agent for the employer) shall notify the Attorney 
     General within 7 days of an alien admitted or provided status 
     under this Act who prematurely abandons the alien's 
     employment.
       ``(D) Issuance of identification and employment eligibility 
     document.--
       ``(i) In general.--The Attorney General shall cause to be 
     issued to each alien admitted under this section a card in a 
     form which is resistant to counterfeiting and tampering for 
     the purpose of providing proof of identity and employment 
     eligibility under section 274A.
       ``(ii) Design of card.--Each card issued pursuant to clause 
     (i) shall be designed in such a manner and contain a 
     photograph and other identifying information (such as date of 
     birth, sex, and distinguishing marks) that would allow an 
     employer to determine with reasonable certainty that the 
     bearer is not claiming the identity of another individual, 
     and shall--

       ``(I) specify the date of the alien's acquisition of status 
     under this section;
       ``(II) specify the expiration date of the alien's work 
     authorization; and
       ``(III) specify the alien's admission number or alien file 
     number.

       ``(2) Extension of stay of aliens in the united states.--
       ``(A) Extension of stay.--If an employer with respect to 
     whom a report or application described in section 6(a)(1) of 
     the Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act of 
     1998 has been submitted seeks to employ an alien who has 
     acquired status under this section and who is present in the 
     United States, the employer shall file with the Attorney 
     General an application for an extension of the alien's stay 
     or a change in the alien's authorized employment. The 
     application shall be accompanied by a copy of the appropriate 
     report or application described in section 6 of the 
     Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act of 
     1998.
       ``(B) Limitation on filing an application for extension of 
     stay.--An application may not be filed for an extension of an 
     alien's stay for a period of more than 10 months, or later 
     than a date which is 3 years from the date of the alien's 
     last admission to the United States under this section, 
     whichever occurs first.
       ``(C) Work authorization upon filing an application for 
     extension of stay.--An employer may begin employing an alien 
     who is present in the United States who has acquired status 
     under this Act on the day the employer files an application 
     for extension of stay. For the purpose of this requirement, 
     the term `filing' means sending the application by certified 
     mail via the United States Postal Service, return receipt 
     requested, or delivered by guaranteed commercial delivery 
     which will provide the employer with a documented 
     acknowledgment of the date of sending and receipt of the 
     application. The employer shall provide a copy of the 
     employer's application to the alien, who shall keep the 
     application with the alien's identification and employment 
     eligibility document as evidence that the application has 
     been filed and that the alien is authorized to work in the 
     United States. Upon approval of an application for an 
     extension of stay or change in the alien's authorized 
     employment, the Attorney General shall provide a new or 
     updated employment eligibility document to the alien 
     indicating the new validity date, after which the alien is 
     not required to retain a copy of the application.
       ``(D) Limitation on employment authorization of aliens 
     without valid identification and employment eligibility 
     card.--An expired identification and employment eligibility 
     document, together with a copy of an application for 
     extension of stay or change in the alien's authorized 
     employment, shall constitute a valid work authorization 
     document for a period of not more than 60 days from the date 
     of application for the extension of stay, after which time 
     only a currently valid identification and employment 
     eligibility document shall be acceptable.
       ``(E) Limitation on an individual's stay in status.--An 
     alien having status under this section may not have the 
     status extended for a continuous period longer than 3 years 
     unless the alien remains outside the United States for an 
     uninterrupted period of 6 months. An absence from the United 
     States may break the continuity of the period for which a 
     nonimmigrant visa issued under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) 
     is valid. If the alien has resided in the United States 10 
     months or less, an absence breaks the continuity of the 
     period if its lasts for at least 2 months. If the alien has 
     resided in the United States 10 months or more, an absence 
     breaks the continuity of the period if it lasts for at least 
     one-fifth the duration of the stay.
       ``(b) Trust Fund.--
       ``(1) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury 
     of the United States a trust fund (in this section referred 
     to as the `Trust Fund') for the purpose of funding the costs 
     of administering this section and, in the event of an adverse 
     finding by the Attorney General under subsection (c), for the 
     purpose of providing a monetary incentive for aliens 
     described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) to return to their 
     country of origin upon expiration of their visas under this 
     section.
       ``(2) Transfers to trust fund.--
       ``(A) In general.--There is appropriated to the Trust Fund 
     amounts equivalent to the sum of the following:

[[Page S8668]]

       ``(i) Such employers shall pay to the Secretary of the 
     Treasury a user fee in an amount equivalent to so much of the 
     Federal tax that is not transferred to the States on the 
     earnings of such aliens that the employer would be obligated 
     to pay under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act and the Federal 
     Insurance Contributions Act if the earnings were subject to 
     such Acts. Such payment shall be in lieu of any other 
     employer fees for the benefits provided to employers pursuant 
     to this Act or in connection with the admission of aliens 
     pursuant to section 218A.
       ``(ii) In the event of an adverse finding by the Attorney 
     General under subsection (c), employers of aliens under this 
     section shall withhold from the wages of such aliens an 
     amount equivalent to 20 percent of the earnings of each alien 
     and pay such withheld amount to the Secretary of the 
     Treasury.
       ``(B) Treatment of amounts.--Amounts paid to the Secretary 
     of the Treasury under subparagraph (A) shall be treated as 
     employment taxes for purposes of subtitle C of the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986.
       ``(C) Treatment as offsetting receipts.--Amounts 
     appropriated to the Trust Fund under this paragraph shall be 
     treated as offsetting receipts.
       ``(3) Administrative expenses.--Amounts transferred to the 
     Trust Fund pursuant to paragraph (2)(A)(ii), shall, without 
     further appropriation, be paid to the Attorney General, the 
     Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary 
     of Agriculture in amounts equivalent to the expenses incurred 
     by such officials in the administration of section 
     101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) and this section.
       ``(4) Distribution of funds.--In the event of an adverse 
     finding by the Attorney General under subsection (c), amounts 
     transferred to the Trust Fund pursuant to paragraph 
     (2)(A)(ii), and interest earned thereon under paragraph (6), 
     shall be held on behalf of an alien and shall be available, 
     without further appropriation, to the Attorney General for 
     payment to the alien if--
       ``(A) the alien applies to the Attorney General (or the 
     designee of the Attorney General) for payment within 30 days 
     of the expiration of the alien's last authorized stay in the 
     United States;
       ``(B) in such application the alien establishes that the 
     alien has complied with the terms and conditions of this 
     section; and
       ``(C) in connection with the application, the alien tenders 
     the identification and employment authorization card issued 
     to the alien pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(D) and establishes 
     that the alien is identified as the person to whom the card 
     was issued based on the biometric identification information 
     contained on the card.
       ``(5) Migrant agricultural worker housing.--Such funds as 
     remain in the Trust Fund after the payments described in 
     paragraph (4) shall be used by the Secretary of Agriculture, 
     in consultation with the Secretary, for the purpose of 
     increasing the stock of in-season migrant worker housing in 
     areas where such housing is determined to be insufficient to 
     meet the needs of migrant agricultural workers, including 
     aliens admitted under this section.
       ``(6) Regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in 
     consultation with the Attorney General, shall prescribe 
     regulations to carry out this subsection.
       ``(7) Investment of portion of trust fund.--
       ``(A) In general.--It shall be the duty of the Secretary of 
     the Treasury to invest such portion of the amounts 
     transferred to the Trust Fund pursuant to paragraph 
     (2)(A)(i), and, if applicable paragraph (2)(A)(ii), as is 
     not, in the Secretary's judgment, required to meet current 
     withdrawals. Such investments may be made only in interest-
     bearing obligations of the United States or in obligations 
     guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United 
     States. For such purpose, such obligations may be acquired--
       ``(i) on original issue at the price; or
       ``(ii) by purchase of outstanding obligations at the market 
     price.

     The purposes for which obligations of the United States may 
     be issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, 
     are hereby extended to authorize the issuance at par of 
     special obligations exclusively to the Trust Fund. Such 
     special obligations shall bear interest at a rate equal to 
     the average rate of interest, computed as to the end of the 
     calendar month next preceding the date of such issue, borne 
     by all marketable interest-bearing obligations of the United 
     States then forming a part of the public debt, except that 
     where such average rate is not a multiple of one-eighth of 1 
     percent next lower than such average rate. Such special 
     obligations shall be issued only if the Secretary of the 
     Treasury determines that the purchase of other interest-
     bearing obligations of the United States, or of obligations 
     guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United 
     States on original issue or at the market price, is not in 
     the public interest.
       ``(B) Sale of obligation.--Any obligation acquired by the 
     Trust Fund (except special obligations issued exclusively to 
     the Trust Fund) may be sold by the Secretary of the Treasury 
     at the market price, and such special obligations may be 
     redeemed at par plus accrued interest.
       ``(C) Credits to trust fund.--The interest on, and the 
     proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any obligations held 
     in the Trust Fund shall be credited to and form a part of the 
     amounts transferred to the Trust Fund pursuant to paragraph 
     (2)(A)(i).
       ``(D) Report to congress.--It shall be the duty of the 
     Secretary of the Treasury to hold the Trust Fund, and (after 
     consultation with the Attorney General) to report to the 
     Congress each year on the financial condition and the results 
     of the operations of the Trust Fund during the preceding 
     fiscal year and on its expected condition and operations 
     during the next fiscal year. Such report shall be printed as 
     both a House and a Senate document of the session of the 
     Congress to which the report is made.
       ``(c) Study by the Attorney General.--The Attorney General 
     shall conduct a study to determine whether aliens under this 
     section depart the United States in a timely manner upon the 
     expiration of their period of authorized stay. If the 
     Attorney General finds that a significant number of aliens do 
     not so depart and that a financial inducement is necessary to 
     assure such departure, then the Attorney General shall so 
     report to Congress and, upon receipt of the report, 
     subsections (b)(2)(A)(ii) and (b)(4) shall take effect.''.
       (b) No Family Members Permitted.--Section 101(a)(15)(H) of 
     the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)) 
     is amended by striking ``specified in this paragraph'' and 
     inserting ``specified in this subparagraph (other than in 
     clause (ii)(a))''.
       (c) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by inserting after 
     the item relating to section 218 the following new item:

``Sec. 218A. Alternative program for the admission of H-2A workers.''.
       (d) Repeal and Additional Conforming Amendments.--
       (1) Repeal.--Section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality 
     Act is repealed.
       (2) Technical amendments.--(A) Section 218A of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act is redesignated as section 
     218.
       (B) The table of contents of that Act is amended by 
     striking the item relating to section 218A.
       (C) The section heading for section 218 of that Act is 
     amended by striking ``alternative program for''.
       (3) Termination of employer election.--Section 214(c)(1)(B) 
     of the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended to read as 
     follows:
       ``(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the procedures of 
     section 218 shall apply to the importing of any nonimmigrant 
     alien described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a).''.
       (4) Maintenance of certain section 218 provisions.--Section 
     218 (as redesignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(d) Miscellaneous Provisions.--(1) The Attorney General 
     shall provide for such endorsement of entry and exit 
     documents of nonimmigrants described in section 
     101(a)(15)(H)(ii) as may be necessary to carry out this 
     section and to provide notice for purposes of section 274A.
       ``(2) The provisions of subsections (a) and (c) of section 
     214 and the provisions of this section preempt any State or 
     local law regulating admissibility of nonimmigrant 
     workers.''.
       (5) Effective date.--The repeal and amendments made by this 
     subsection shall take effect 5 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 10. INCLUSION IN EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRATION PREFERENCE 
                   ALLOCATION.

       (a) Amendment of the Immigration and Nationality Act.--
     Section 203(b)(3)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
     (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(3)(A)) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv); and
       (2) by inserting after clause (ii) the following:
       ``(iii) Agricultural workers.--Qualified immigrants who 
     have completed at least 6 months of work in the United States 
     in each of 4 consecutive calendar years under section 
     101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), and have complied with all terms and 
     conditions applicable to that section.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 203(b)(3)(B) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(3)(A)) is 
     amended by striking ``subparagraph (A)(iii)'' and inserting 
     ``subparagraph (A)(iv)''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) 
     and (b) shall apply to aliens described in section 
     101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) admitted to the United States before, 
     on, or after the effective date of this Act.

     SEC. 11. MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START PROGRAM.

       (a) In General.--Section 637(12) of the Head Start Act (42 
     U.S.C. 9832(12)) is amended--
       (1) by inserting ``and seasonal'' after ``migrant''; and
       (2) by inserting before the period the following: ``, or 
     families whose incomes or labor is primarily dedicated to 
     performing seasonal agricultural labor for hire but whose 
     places of residency have not changed to another geographic 
     location in the preceding 2-year period''.
       (b) Funds Set-Aside.--Section 640(a) (42 U.S.C. 9835(a)) is 
     amended--
       (1) in paragraph (2), strike ``13'' and insert ``14'';
       (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ``1994'' and inserting 
     ``1998''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(8) In determining the need for migrant and seasonal Head 
     Start programs and services, the Secretary shall consult with 
     the

[[Page S8669]]

     Secretary of Labor, other public and private entities, and 
     providers. Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(A), after conducting 
     such consultation, the Secretary shall further adjust the 
     amount available for such programs and services, taking into 
     consideration the need and demand for such services.''.

     SEC. 12. REGULATIONS.

       (a) Regulations of the Attorney General.--The Attorney 
     General shall consult with the Secretary and the Secretary of 
     Agriculture on all regulations to implement the duties of the 
     Attorney General under this Act.
       (b) Regulations of the Secretary of State.--The Secretary 
     of State shall consult with the Attorney General on all 
     regulations to implement the duties of the Secretary of State 
     under this Act.

     SEC. 13. FUNDING FROM WAGNER-PEYSER ACT.

       If additional funds are necessary to pay the start-up costs 
     of the registries established under section 3(a), such costs 
     may be paid out of amounts available to Federal or State 
     governmental entities under the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 
     49 et seq.).

     SEC. 14. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take 
     effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

                        Endorsing Organizations

       National Council of Agricultural Employers; American Farm 
     Bureau Federation; AgriBank; Agricultural Affiliates, Inc.; 
     Agricultural Council of California; Agricultural Producers; 
     Allied Grape Growers; Almond Hullers & Processors 
     Association, Inc.; American Mushroom Institute; American 
     Nursery & Landscape Association; American Sheep Industry 
     Association; Apple Growers of Dutchess County; California 
     Apple Commission; California Association of Winegrape 
     Growers; California Beet Growers Association; California 
     Citrus Mutual; California Cherry Export Association; 
     California Cotton Ginners & Growers Association; California 
     Cotton Growers Association; California Cut Flower Commission; 
     California Farm Bureau Federation; California Floral Council; 
     California Grape & Tree Fruit League; California Tomato 
     Growers Association; Colorado Onion Association; Colorado 
     Sugarbeet Growers Association; Fagerberg Produce; Farm Credit 
     Services of North Central Wisconsin; Florida Citrus Mutual; 
     Florida Citrus Packers; Florida Citrus Processors 
     Association; Florida Farm Bureau Federation; Florida Fruit & 
     Vegetable Association; Florida Nurserymen & Growers 
     Association; Florida Strawberry Growers Association; 
     Frederick County Fruit Growers Association, Inc.; Fresno 
     County Farm Bureau; Georgia Agribusiness Council, Inc.; 
     Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association of Central California; 
     Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association of San Luis Obispo & 
     Santa Barbara Counties; Gulf Citrus Growers Association, 
     Inc.; Hood River Grower-Shipper Association; Idaho Grower 
     Shippers Association; Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers 
     Association; Jackson County Fruit Growers League; Marsing 
     Agriculture Labor Association; Michigan Asparagus Advisory 
     Board; Michigan Farm Bureau; Midwest Food Processors 
     Association; Midwest Sod Council; National Christmas Tree 
     Association; National Cotton Council of America; National 
     Cotton Ginners' Association; National Watermelon Association; 
     New England Apple Council; New Jersey Farm Bureau Federation; 
     New York Apple Association, Inc.; New York Cherry Growers 
     Association, Inc.; New York Farm Bureau; Nisei Farmers 
     League; North Carolina Growers Association, Inc.; North 
     Carolina Sweet Potato Commission, Inc.; Northern California 
     Growers Association; Northern Christmas Trees & Nursery; 
     Northwest Horticultural Council; Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, 
     Inc.; Ohio Fruit Growers Society; Ohio Vegetable & Potato 
     Growers Association; Olive Growers Council; Oregon 
     Association of Nurserymen, Inc.; Oregon Farm Bureau 
     Federation; Oregon Hop Growers Association; Oregon Raspberry 
     & blackberry Commission; Oregon Strawberry Commission; Peach 
     Commission; Raisin Bargaining Association; San Joaquin Valley 
     Dairymen; Snake River Farmers Association; Society of 
     American Florists; Sod Growers Association of Mid-America; 
     South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation; Southeast Cotton 
     Ginners Association, Inc.; Southeast Forestry Contractors' 
     Association; Southern Cotton Growers Association; State 
     Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania; Sugar Cane Growers 
     Cooperative of Florida; Texas Cotton Ginners Association; 
     Texas Produce Association; Turfgrass Producers 
     International; United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association; 
     United States Apple Association; United States Sugar 
     Corporation; Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey; 
     Ventura County Agricultural Association; Wasco County 
     Fruit & Produce League; Washington Growers Clearing House 
     Association; Washington Growers League; Washington State 
     Farm Bureau; Washington Women for Agriculture; Wenatchee 
     Valley Traffic Association; Western Growers Association; 
     Western Range Association; Western United Dairymen; 
     Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers; Wisconsin Farm Bureau; 
     and Yakima Valley Grower-Shipper Association.

  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, a recent GAO report concluded that 
approximately one-third of the U.S. agricultural labor force in the 
United States is illegal. Many estimate that the percentage is in fact 
much higher. For too long, Congress has failed to respond to the lack 
of legal agricultural workers, and simply left on the books, and 
largely unused, a guestworker program that is too administratively 
complex and expensive to be workable. With recent crackdowns by INS, 
our farmers and growers face a labor shortage crisis. Congress must 
act, and it must act now.
  I rise today, and join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in 
introducing the Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act 
of 1998, a bill to address this problem. This legislation is long past 
due and urgently needed. As the Senator from Florida described earlier 
today, the bill is a win-win-win proposition. It is a win for farmers 
and growers because it provides them a method of obtaining a legal, 
reliable workforce. It is a win for workers both domestic and foreign. 
For domestic workers, the bill, through a work registry, gives them 
first preference on jobs, benefits above those they are currently 
receiving, and continued employment by ensuring that American farms 
remain economically viable and that production is not lost to other 
countries. For foreign workers, the bill provides the dignity, freedom 
from fear, and mobility that attends a legal status, as well as 
significant worker protection and benefits. Finally, the bill is a win 
for consumers because it ensures them a ready, affordable supply of 
American agricultural products. I applaud this carefully considered, 
balanced legislation and will work actively for its quick enactment.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Kentucky Farm Bureau and the 
hundreds of farmers that I met with on my recent farm belt tour 
convinced me that one of the most pressing issues facing Kentucky 
farmers is the problem of finding legal, migrant farm workers.
  Kentucky farmers depend heavily on migrant agricultural workers that 
come to Kentucky under H-2A visas to help harvest tobacco and other 
crops. Kentucky depends on the H-2A visa program more than every other 
state, except North Carolina and Virginia.
  The current H-2A process is slow, tedious and complex. It subjects 
farmers to unreasonable costs, excessive bureaucracy, and mountains of 
paperwork.
  To add to the injustice, farmers are faced with frivolous lawsuits 
and IRS raids--often at the peak time of the harvest.
  The Agriculture Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act would lift 
the unfair burdens placed on farmers by reforming the H-2A visa program 
and reducing: the mountains of paperwork, the excessive bureaucracy, 
and the unfair threats of frivolous litigation.
  In order to get migrant workers, a Kentucky farmer has to find his 
way through the Kentucky Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of 
Labor, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service--paying fees and 
filling out cumbersome, confusing paperwork all along the way.
  Most farmers will tell you that it's easier to wade through the tax 
code and file a 1040 tax form every year than it is to slog through 
multiple government agencies and mountains of paperwork just to hire a 
migrant farm worker to help bale hay.
  In fact, the Department of Labor needs a 325-page handbook to help 
farmers find their way to migrant farm workers. The Government 
Accounting Office managed to get through this handbook and found it to 
be outdated, incomplete and very confusing.
  You shouldn't have to hire a lawyer just to hire a migrant farmer.
  I'd like to take a couple of minutes to walk through some of the 
common problems faced by farmers and the common sense solutions offered 
by the bill we are introducing today.
  Problem: Farmers are hesitant to use the process because it is too 
slow and complicated.
  Solution: A simplified, streamlined H-2A visa program would encourage 
more farmers to go through the system to hire legal migrant farm 
workers.
  Problem: Farmers must pay multiple fees, go through multiple 
agencies, and fill-out multiple documents.
  Solution: A Department of Labor computer registry would be 
established to replace the current cumbersome and bureaucratic process. 
Farmers would submit a simple form asking for a certain number of 
workers at a specified

[[Page S8670]]

time. If there is an insufficient number of domestic workers available, 
then the DOL would contact the INS to initiate an expedited visa 
approval process for migrant farm workers. (All program costs would be 
paid for by employer user fees.)
  Problem: Farmers must apply for workers 60 days in advance--even 
though they may not know exactly how many workers they will need or 
exactly when they will need them.
  Solution: Farmers do not have to begin process two months in advance. 
They may apply any time prior to actually hiring foreign workers. The 
total process from initial application to actual hiring should take no 
more than 21 days.
  Problem: DOL slows the process by failing to timely process 
applications. A GAO study found that DOL missed statutory deadlines in 
at least 40 percent of the cases.
  Solution: Farmers do not have to wait for DOL. If the DOL does not 
either meet the deadline or issue a specific objection, then the INS is 
authorized to go ahead and issue visas for migrant workers.
  Problem: Farmers have to spend hundreds of dollars advertising in the 
newspaper or on the radio to prove what they already know--that is, 
there is a shortage of domestic workers who will labor in the fields.
  Solution: Farmers will not be required to engage in costly radio and 
newspaper advertising, but may recruit domestic workers by simply using 
the existing DOL job bank for available domestic workers. DOL will 
match domestic workers with jobs.
  Problem: Farmers are required to pay wages that are often higher than 
both the minimum wage and the prevailing wage because the legal wage is 
calculated based on wages paid for all farming jobs, not the specific 
job in which the migrant worker employed.
  Solution: Farmers would not have to pay exorbitant wages to migrant 
farm workers. They would be required to pay wages only up to the 
prevailing wage for the type of occupation in which the grower is 
actually employed. The wage would not be based on the wages earned by 
all persons in all farming jobs.
  Problem: Farmers are faced with the threat of frivolous litigation 
for failing to meet vague and open-ended statutory and regulatory 
requirements.
  Solution: The threat of litigation would be reduced by removing 
unfair burdens on farmers and by clearly spelling out statutory 
requirements.
  Finally, let me respond to the critics of this compromise bill.
  Critics wrongly claim the new alternative program has no labor 
protections.
  The alternative program provides foreign and domestic workers with 
all the labor protections of federal and state labor laws. In addition, 
it imposes special obligations on participating employers such as 
payment of at least the prevailing wage.
  The pilot program is modeled after the existing H-lB program for 
specialty and high-tech occupations. It requires employers to recruit 
domestic workers, and assures that domestic workers receive first 
preference for jobs.
  Finally, the new program provides strict penalties for employers who 
fail to meet labor standards, including fines, back wages, and 
debarment from future program participation.
  I wanted to commend the bipartisan group of Senators, led by Gordon 
Smith, who have worked together to craft a comprehensive and meaningful 
solution for our nation's farmers.
  I was proud to be a cosponsor of Senator Smith's original bill, S. 
1563, and am equally pleased to be a part of this compromise bill.
  I look forward to working with the American Farm Bureau and the 
Kentucky Farm Bureau to move this bill in the Senate as soon as 
possible.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues in 
introducing legislation that will simplify and streamline one of the 
most frustrating aspects in the life of a farmer: Finding qualified, 
legal farmworkers.
  There are two large issues that cause this problem: (1) According to 
the December 1997 GAO report, there are at least 600,000 farm workers 
in the United States illegally--and most have false, but realistic-
looking, documents.
  The farmer can go to extreme lengths to verify his workforce, and 
still be vulnerable to INS enforcement action.
  Our bill, through an Agricultural Registry of workers, ensures that a 
farmer is able to get a legal, reliable workforce, and our bill ensures 
that these American workers are paid a premium wage and receive the 
benefits that they deserve.
  (2) Under the current system, if a farmer cannot find available 
American workers and does need to find temporary foreign help through 
H-2A visas, he or she must navigate a maze of complex regulations, so 
much so that it takes a 300-page guidebook to explain the process.
  He or she also has little assurance that, even after successfully 
completing the forms and initiating the process, that the Department of 
Labor will approve or deny the petitions in a timely manner.
  It may seem notable that we are all here together, in a bipartisan 
manner, from every geographic region of our great Nation.
  In the past, discussion of the H-2A program has broken down into a 
partisan, polarized, gridlocked debate, and no one wins. Wages are 
still low for workers, and growers still need legal reliable help.
  I commend my colleagues, Senator Wyden, Senator Bumpers, Senators 
Smith, Craig, and Gorton for helping bring common sense reality to the 
table, and together, crafting a bill that helps all sides.
  I thank Senator Abraham for holding a fair, educational and timely 
hearing on this issue, and for bringing all sides together to discuss 
what works and what doesn't work under the current system.
  We, as a bipartisan group, want to accomplish several goals, and I 
ask my colleagues in the Senate to support what we feel will bring 
order to the current chaos, bring honor to the farming community, and 
bring needed benefits to hard working farmworkers. Our goals are 
simple:
  1. Make the H-2A system simple. With our agricultural registry, 
anyone can start the process by picking up the phone.
  Turnaround time can be counted in minutes and hours instead of weeks 
or months. Give our farmers the chance to choose between legal domestic 
workers, and legal foreign workers, with the domestic workers getting 
the first choice at all jobs. But the choice can be made to have a 
legal workforce.
  2. Ensure that American workers get the first choice of every job 
opening. Under the Registry system--not a single foreign worker will 
come to the United States until every domestic worker on the Registry 
is employed in the area he or she has requested.
  American farmworkers will be able to easily link together a year's 
worth of work--moving from Florida to Kentucky to New England, if that 
is what they want.
  3. Ensure that American workers receive premium wages and benefits. 
Under the Registry program, every legal domestic worker is guaranteed 
at least prevailing wage, plus a 5 percent premium.
  The growers will pay a higher price than they may be paying 
currently, but they have the added value of knowing with certainty that 
they are not vulnerable to INS enforcement action. Registry workers 
also will receive housing benefits, either on-site housing, or a 
housing allowance.

  4. Put a stop to the horrible practice of smuggling human lives. 
Under the current state of affairs, every day, human beings are dying--
crammed into the back of vans, dehydrating in the California deserts, 
or murdered for the thousand dollars they are willing to pay for a 
secretive trip across the border and a set of false documents.
  They are drawn here by the jobs, many of them farmwork jobs. They put 
their lives on the line to work in an underground economy. They keep 
food on our table, and our economy growing.
  Let us take this underground system above ground. Offer a simple, 
reliable way to bring temporary, legal foreign workers here, paid at 
wages that will not disadvantage any American workers and protected by 
all labor laws and standards.
  5. Don't hurt any other immigration category. All of this can be 
accomplished without taking away from any current immigration numbers.
  H-2A workers workers, by definition, are in our country for 
temporary, seasonal work--and they return home

[[Page S8671]]

when the job is done. They will not swell the population of the United 
States, or become a burden on our social safety net.
  They will work side by side with the domestic workforce in one of the 
most important, but difficult, jobs in our society: putting fresh 
fruit, fresh vegetables, perishable delicacies on our plates each and 
every meal.
  Please join me in this bipartisan effort to simplify this complex 
system.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. MOYNIHAN (for himself, Mr. D'Amato, and Mr. Specter):
  S. 2338. A bill to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States to provide for equitable duty treatment for certain wool used in 
making suits; to the Committee on Finance.


   legislation to provide equitable treatment for certain wool fabric

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, today I introduce a bill to 
correct a glaring competitive imbalance that has arisen because of an 
anomaly in our tariff schedule. Hickey-Freeman has produced fine 
tailored suits in Rochester, New York since 1899. Nearly a century. 
However, the U.S. tariff schedule currently makes it difficult for 
Hickey-Freeman to continue producing such suits in the United States.
  The facts are straight-forward. Companies like Hickey-Freeman that 
must import the very high quality wool fabric used to make men's and 
boys' suits pay a tariff of 31.7 percent. They compete with companies 
that import finished wool suits from a number of countries. If these 
imported suits are from Canada, the importers pay no tariff whatever. 
If the suits are imported from Mexico, the tariff is 11 percent. From 
other countries, the importers pay a duty of 20.2 percent. Clearly, 
domestic manufacturers of wool suits are put at a significant price 
disadvantage. Indeed, the tariff structure provides an incentive to 
import finished suits from abroad, rather than manufacture them in the 
United States.
  The bill I am introducing today, along with Senators D'Amato and 
Specter, would correct this problem, at least temporarily. It suspends 
through December 31, 2004 the duty on the finest wool fabrics (known in 
the trade as Super 90s or higher grade--fabrics that are produced in 
only very limited quantities in the United States. And it would reduce 
the duty for slightly lower grade but still very fine wool fabric 
(Super 70's and Super 80's) to 20.2 percent--the same duty as on 
finished wool suits. The bill also provides that, in the event the 
President proclaim a duty reduction on wool suits, corresponding 
changes would be made to the tariffs applicable to `Super 70's' and 
`Super 80's' grade wool fabric.
  This bill would correct a troublesome tariff inversion that puts U.S. 
wool suit producers at a serious competitive disadvantage. It is a 
small step toward modifying a tariff schedule that favors foreign 
producers of wools suits at the expense of U.S. suit makers. I 
therefore urge my colleagues to join me in supporting its adoption, and 
ask for unanimous consent that the full text of the bill be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2338

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

     SECTION 1. DUTY TREATMENT OF CERTAIN FABRICS.

       (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 99 of the 
     Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is amended--
       (1) by adding at the end of the U.S. notes the following 
     new note:
       ``13. For purposes of headings 9902.51.11 and 9902.51.12, 
     the term `suit' has the same meaning such term has for 
     purposes of headings 6203 and 6204.''; and
       (2) by inserting in numerical sequence the following new 
     headings:


``9902.51.11..  Fabrics, of carded                                      
                 or combed wool or                                      
                 fine animal hair,                                      
                 all the foregoing                                      
                 certified by the                                       
                 importer as                                            
                 `Super 70's' or                                        
                 `Super 80's'                                           
                 intended for use                                       
                 in making suits,                                       
                 suit-type jackets                                      
                 or trousers                                            
                 (provided for in                                       
                 subheadings                                            
                 5111.11.70,                                            
                 5111.19.60,                                            
                 5112.11.20, or                                         
                 5112.19.90)......  20.2%    No                         
                                              change  No                
                                                       change  On or    
                                                                before  
                                                                12/31/  
                                                                2004    
9902.51.12....  Fabrics, of carded                                      
                 or combed wool or                                      
                 fine animal hair,                                      
                 all the foregoing                                      
                 certified by the                                       
                 importer as                                            
                 `Super 90's' or                                        
                 higher grade                                           
                 intended for use                                       
                 in making suits,                                       
                 suit-type jackets                                      
                 or trousers                                            
                 (provided for in                                       
                 subheadings                                            
                 5111.11.70,                                            
                 5111.19.60,                                            
                 5112.11.20, or                                         
                 5112.19.90)......  Free     Free                       
                                              (CA,                      
                                              IL,                       
                                              MX)     No                
                                                       change  On or    
                                                                before  
                                                                12/31/  
                                                                2004''. 
                                                                        

       (b) Staged Rate Reduction.--Any staged reduction of a rate 
     of duty set forth in heading 6203.31.00 of the Harmonized 
     Tariff Schedule of the United States that is proclaimed by 
     the President shall also apply to the corresponding rate of 
     duty set forth in heading 9902.51.11 of such Schedule (as 
     added by subsection (a)).
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     apply with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from 
     warehouse for consumption, on or after the 15th day after the 
     date of enactment of this Act.

 Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, today I support this important 
legislation to eliminate tariff duties on certain wool fabrics. 
Currently, there exists a disparity in the tariff schedule which forces 
companies like Hickey-Freeman, in Rochester, New York and Learbury in 
Syracuse, New York, who import very high quality wool fabric, to pay a 
tariff of 31.7 percent.
  These same finished suits imported from Canada come into the United 
States tariff free. If the suits are imported from Mexico, there is an 
11 percent tariff and from other countries, the tariff rate is 20.2 
percent. This inverted tariff schedule actually provides an incentive 
to import suits rather than produce them here in the United States with 
domestic labor and domestic wool.
  This straightforward, clear legislation would suspend through 
December 31, 2004 the duty on the finest wool fabrics (known 
specifically as Super 90s weight or higher grade wool). These higher 
quality fabrics are produced in very limited quantities in the United 
States, so this tariff reduction would have no negative impact on 
domestic producers.
  Clearly, if there were enough of this wool fabric produced 
domestically, there would be no need for this legislation since 
suitmakers would not need to import wool and pay the extortionately 
high rate of 31.7 percent. Indeed, if the U.S. suit manufacturing 
industry is allowed to compete fairly with imported suits, and not 
forced to reduce costs just to pay for inverted tariff rates, domestic 
wool use will actually increase with the additional suits that will be 
manufactured in the United States.
  Additionally, the provision would reduce the duty for slightly lower 
grade, fine wool fabric (Super 70s and 80s) to 20.2 percent--the same 
duty as on finished wool suits.
  Mr. President, under current law, if two fabric buyers, one American 
and the other Canadian, purchase fabric from a foreign country, say 
Italy, they each pay the exact same price. Yet when they bring the 
fabric back to their country to be made into suits that is where the 
problem occurs.
  The American is forced to pay a tariff of 31.7 percent on the 
imported fabric, which then must be absorbed into the cost of the suit, 
or eaten by the manufacturer. The Canadian buyer pays no tariff. 
Additionally, the Canadian suit maker can then export to the U.S., and 
because of the NAFTA agreement, they pay no tariff. As a result, 
Canadian shipments of men's suits into the United States has gone from 
0 to 1.5 million in only ten years.
  Mr. President, I am extremely concerned with the current wool tariff 
because this inverted tariff policy has negatively impacted U.S. jobs. 
U.S. production has fallen by 40 percent and jobs by 50 percent. And, 
Mr. President, this additional tariff raises the costs for consumers as 
well.
  I am proud to join with Senators Moynihan and Specter in this 
important legislation, and look forward to its early passage and 
enactment into law.
 Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, today I join my colleagues, 
Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Alfonso

[[Page S8672]]

D'Amato, to introduce a bill that will keep high paying jobs in the 
domestic tailored wool apparel industry in America. This bill will 
suspend the duty on certain high quality wool fabrics used in American 
garment manufacturing.
  The duty rates on imported wool fabrics continued to be among the 
highest rates imposed on products in the U.S. tariff schedules. Because 
the duty on these fabrics exceeds the duty on imported garments by 
about 20 percent, the duty schedule penalizes those American companies 
which keep their production here in the U.S.
  A special ``finished product'' concession made in the Canada Free 
Trade Agreement (and later NAFTA) has greatly exacerbated the problem. 
The concession allows Canadian companies to use imported, duty-free 
wool fabric to manufacture men's suits, which are in turn shipped duty-
free into the U.S. As a result, over the past decade Canadian shipments 
of suits into the U.S. have surged from nearly zero to approximately 
one and a half million units shipped annually.
  During the same time frame, production by the U.S. tailored clothing 
industry has dropped 40 percent and the number of employees has been 
cut in almost half, from 58,000 to 30,000 employees. In my home state 
of Pennsylvania, the high-end tailored men's clothing industry provides 
high paying jobs in the cities of Reading, Ashland, Easton, 
Shippensberg and Philadelphia, but since 1991, Pennsylvania has lost 
over 3000 jobs due to plant closings.
  This duty has a real, direct and substantial effect on American jobs. 
Suspension of the duty on these fabrics will level the playing field 
with foreign manufacturers and allow the U.S. industry to compete, 
saving American jobs. I therefore urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting its adoption.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, earlier today a group of my colleagues 
representing both sides of the aisle joined together to announce that 
we would be introducing legislation to increase the security in the 
retirement of Americans. I want to especially recognize my colleague, 
Senator Grassley, who has put a tremendous amount of effort into this 
legislation and, through his position as Chair of the Aging Committee, 
has demonstrated his commitment to the well-being of older Americans. 
Senator Grassley and I recognize that for our Nation to solve what 
would be one of this generation's greatest challenges, building a 
retirement security for today's workers, we need to move in a 
commonsense, bipartisan fashion.
  Many of the original cosponsors of this bill were key in crafting the 
sections of this legislation. Senator Grassley's efforts have expanded 
fairness for women and families and focused on the benefits of 
retirement education. Senator Baucus has brought the ideas that 
expanded pension coverage and eased administration burdens on America's 
small businesses. Portability, so important as we become a more mobile 
society, received the specific attention of Senator Jeffords. All 
businesses will have the hard work of Senator Hatch to thank for many 
of the regulatory relief and administrative simplification elements of 
this bill. And Senator Breaux, who focused on the big picture of 
retirement security leading the CSIS task force, has incorporated some 
of his ideas and the ideas of that task force into the legislation that 
we introduced this evening.
  Throughout this process of putting the bill together, our principal 
task has been one to listen and attempt to understand what we were 
hearing. We listened at the recent SAVER Summit, which was held here in 
Washington, DC, held at the direction of this Congress. We listened at 
town hall meetings throughout our States. We have listened at the 
Retirement Security Summit, which I held in January of this year in 
Tampa, FL, and the Women's Summit, which I held in Orlando in April.
  The ideas have come from pension actuaries, tax attorneys, Cabinet 
leaders, and some of the best ideas from everyday Americans. I want to 
thank those who have endorsed our proposal.
  Mr. President, with reason, much of the public debate has now focused 
on President Clinton's call to ``Save Social Security first.'' I wish 
to say, as the Senator from New Hampshire has just commented, I, too, 
benefited by the remarks that were made this evening by the Senator 
from Minnesota on what is happening on a global basis, in terms of 
meeting the type of problems which we face in providing retirement 
security for Americans. We all agree, on both sides of the aisle, that 
we need to assure that Social Security is as viable for my nine 
grandchildren and all of their peers, as it was for my parents and will 
be for me. However, Social Security is only one part of the picture. 
Pensions and personal savings will make up an ever-increasing part of 
retirement security. So, when Congress takes action to assure the 
future of Social Security, we are only addressing one-third of the 
problem. Our bill addresses the other two-thirds of the problem.
  Social Security will play less of a role for each succeeding 
generation of Americans. We must develop personal savings. We must 
assure that years of work pay off in reliable pensions. Our bill will 
help hard-working Americans build personal retirement savings through 
their employers, through 401(k)s, through payroll deduction IRAs, 
through higher limits on savings. The employers and workers both will 
win. Employers get simpler pension systems with less administrative 
burden and more loyal employees, and workers build a secure retirement 
and watch savings accumulate over their years of work.
  How, specifically, will our bill help? The first focus of our bill is 
small business. The reason for this primary focus is because this is 
where the greatest difficulties in achieving retirement security are 
lodged.
  Fifty-one million American workers have no retirement plan at work--
51 million Americans without any retirement plan at the place of their 
employment; 21 million of these employees work in small businesses. The 
problem: Statistics indicate that only a small percentage of workers in 
firms of less than 100 employees have access to a retirement plan.
  This chart indicates that there is a direct correlation between the 
number of employees in a business and the likelihood that there will be 
a pension retirement plan. Firms with less than 25 employees have a 
retirement plan of 20.2 percent. Firms of 100 or more have a proportion 
of retirement plans of almost 85 percent.
  We are particularly focusing our attention on these smallest firms 
which are the least likely to have retirement plans, but which are the 
fastest growing segment of our economy. In the State of Florida, these 
firms of less than 25 have represented well over 70 percent of the job 
growth in our State in the last 5 years.
  We take a step forward in eliminating one of the principal hurdles 
that small businesses face when establishing a pension plan.
  What is that problem? It is the Federal Government having two hands: 
On the one hand, the Federal Government is encouraging these businesses 
to start pension plans, but when they hand out the second hand, they 
find that the Federal Government wants a palm turned up because the 
Federal Government is asking for up to $1,000 for a small business to 
register its plan with the Internal Revenue Service.
  We eliminate this fee for small businesses. We need to encourage 
small businesses to start plans, not discourage them with high 
registration fees.
  Mr. President, the second target of our legislation is women and 
families. Historically speaking, women live longer than men. Therefore, 
they need greater savings for retirement because they will have to 
stretch those savings over more years of life. Yet, our pension and 
retirement laws do not reflect this fundamental reality. Women are more 
mobile than men, moving in and out of the workforce due to family 
responsibilities. Thus, they are less likely to vest in a retirement 
system. Most retirement systems require a minimum period of time before 
the employee becomes eligible and has a legal entitlement to the 
retirement funds. Women are the least likely to meet those minimum 
years of employment.
  As this chart indicates, of women retirees today, 68 percent of women 
who retire have no retirement benefits; fewer than 32 percent have a 
pension for their retirement.
  Currently, two-thirds of working women are employed in sectors of the 
economy that are unlikely to offer a retirement plan--service and 
retail and small businesses.

[[Page S8673]]

  What is the solution? In an effort to address one of the problems of 
preparing for a longer life expectancy, we realistically adjust upward 
the age at which you must start withdrawing funds from your own 401(k) 
or other similar pension instrument.
  Under the current law, you must, you are obligated to start 
withdrawing money from your retirement plan once you reach the age of 
70\1/2\, 70 years and 6 months. At the age of 70 years and 6 months, 
you are obligated to commence the process of withdrawing funds from 
your retirement plan. However, a woman at the age of 70 can still have 
three decades to look forward to in retirement. I know this because I 
represent many of these wonderful people in my State of Florida.

  At the retirement summit I hosted in Tampa, several retirees 
mentioned that they wanted to keep their money in retirement savings 
for as long as possible. We propose to raise the 70 years and 6 months 
age to 75 for mandatory distribution. We do this for both genders, 
because I am happy to say that men are also living longer. It just 
happens that women will be the most affected group of Americans by this 
proposal.
  We go beyond raising the age from 70 years and 6 months to 75 years 
by also providing that $300,000 of any defined benefit contribution 
plan will be exempt from minimum distribution rules.
  This accomplishes several important objectives: Simplifying the 
bureaucracy for thousands of Americans who have less than $300,000 in 
their retirement fund, and protecting a vital nest egg for the last 
years of retirement so that items such as long-term care and other 
expenses that are part of the aging process can be covered.
  Next, Mr. President, we deal with the issue of increasing 
portability. Over an average 40-year career, the current U.S. worker 
will have seven different employers. This represents a dramatic shift 
from the current worker's employment pattern from that of their 
grandparents where it was common for a person to commence their career 
and end their career with the same employer.
  We have the possibility of a generation of American workers who 
retire with many small retirement accounts, creating a complex maze of 
statements and features different for each account.
  The solution that we propose includes addressing one element of this 
by allowing employees, such as teachers, who happen to move from one 
State to another, to buy into their current locality's defined benefit 
pension system through the purchase of service credits so that when 
they retire, they will have one retirement account. It is easier to 
monitor, less complicated to maintain records about and builds a more 
secure retirement for the worker.
  The next issue that our legislation confronts is that of reducing red 
tape and administrative complexities. As I mentioned earlier, 51 
million Americans have no pensions. The main obstacle that companies 
face in establishing a retirement program is often bureaucratic 
administrative burden.
  For example, for a small plan, the plan that would deal with 
companies that have 25 or fewer employees--in this case, the specific 
example is for a plan with 15 employees--it costs $228 per employee per 
year just to comply with all the forms, tests and regulations required 
to maintain a pension plan.
  We have a commonsense remedy to one of the most vexing problems in 
pension administration: figuring out how much money to contribute to 
the company's plan. It is a complex formula of facts, statistics and 
assumptions under the current law. We want to be able to say to plans 
that you have no problem with underfunding. To help make these 
calculations, you can use the prior year's data to make the proper 
contribution, and if you do so, you will not be subject to any after-
the-fact sanctions. You don't have to re-sort through the numbers each 
and every year. If your plan is sound, use reliable data from the 
previous year and then verify when all the final details are available. 
Companies will be able to calculate and then budget, not wait until 
figures and rates out of their control are released by external 
sources.
  Another issue is pension security. Under current law, companies 
cannot fully fund their pension determination liability; that is, 
provide for a sufficient amount of funding in their pension retirement 
trust fund to be able to fund that particular pension to its full 
actuarial amount.
  The inability to do so puts workers at risk that the appropriate 
funds will not be available when their workforce retires. Solution? It 
makes little sense for the Federal Government to discourage companies 
from fully funding their pension plans. We propose to repeal this 
limit, the limit that keeps companies from fully funding their plan. In 
last year's tax bill we phased this limit up. Now we have a chance to 
take the final step and allow companies the flexibility to put more 
money in their pension plans when their economic circumstances allow.
  The next provision in our legislation, Mr. President, encourages 
retirement education. The unfortunate reality is that many Americans do 
not prepare for retirement because they just do not know that they need 
to. It has been said in jest, but unfortunately it happens in too many 
cases--it is true--that Americans spend more time planning a 2-week 
summer vacation than they do 20 or 30 or more years of retirement.
  Studies show that with education, participation rates in retirement 
savings vehicles jump dramatically. Eighty-one percent of Americans say 
retirement education has encouraged them to earmark more money for the 
future. So as Americans have a better understanding of what is involved 
in retirement--the financial aspects of retirement, the issues of 
personal health, issues of utilization of leisure time, and all of the 
other challenges that come in retirement--Americans respond as we would 
expect, with intelligence and appropriate steps to protect their and 
their families' interests.
  Our solution is to let the Federal Government serve as a role model. 
Programs already in place to educate our own Federal employees about 
the need to prepare for retirement should be broadly shared with other 
firms, both private and public. We ask that the paradigm for these 
discussions be made available to the general public so that they can be 
used by American workers who are employed by organizations beyond the 
Federal Government.
  We also ask that the Small Business Administration, which is so 
helpful to America's entrepreneurs in getting ventures off the ground 
and expanding when times are right, be involved in outreach in the 
retirement arena. Through web sites, brochures, whatever means they 
feel best, the Small Business Administration can help spread the word 
on what has already been accomplished--simple accounts, payroll 
deduction IRAs, and more--and keep businesses up to date with each 
opportunity to save for a secure retirement.
  Mr. President, I thank my colleagues who have worked so hard on this 
measure. I ask for the support of those in this Chamber on this 
important legislation.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues, Senator 
Graham, Senator Hatch, Senator Breaux, Senator Baucus, and Senator 
Jeffords to introduce bipartisan pension reform legislation. This 
legislation, the Pension Coverage and Portability Act of 1998, will go 
a long way toward improving the pension system in this country.
  Promoting retirement income security seems to be on everyone's mind 
these days if the number of pension bills now pending in Congress is 
any indication. But I think that our leaders need to understand that 
pension legislation should be a priority for prompt action by Congress 
and the President.
  Let me try to explain: For better or worse, the most important 
component of retirement income is the Social Security program. But our 
nation is about to experience a demographic shift of very large 
proportions that will have a very negative impact on Social Security. 
My state is already feeling the impact of this shift.
  The state of Iowa has the most people over the age of 85 as a percent 
of the population. Iowa has the third highest percentage of people over 
the age of 65. There is a popular statistic relating to the incomes of 
elderly households we hear a lot--that Social Security is the most 
important source of income for more than 80 percent of elderly 
Americans. Knowing the demographics of my state, you can imagine

[[Page S8674]]

how often I hear about Social Security and the feeling that Social 
Security isn't enough.
  It's hard to tell an 82 year old widow that Social Security was never 
supposed to be enough. Future retirees seem to understand this, as we 
have seen a number of surveys indicating that Gen Xers do not believe 
Social Security will be the most important source of income once they 
retire.
  But their income will have to come from somewhere. Many workers will 
be able to rely on increased income from pensions. Unfortunately, right 
now, one half of our workforce is not participating in a pension plan.
  Mr. President, you know the statistics just as well as I do. Coverage 
levels have been consistent over the last decade but among small 
employers, coverage is low.
  In June, the Employee Benefit Research Institute released the Small 
Employer Retirement Survey. This survey is very instructive for 
legislators.
  Small employers identified three main reasons for not offering a 
plan. The first reason is that small employers believe their employees 
prefer increased wages or other types of benefits. The second reason 
employers don't offer plans is the administrative costs. And the third 
most important reason for not offering a plan: uncertain revenue, which 
makes it difficult to commit to a plan.
  Combine these barriers with the responsibilities of a small employer, 
and we can understand why coverage among small employers has not 
increased. Small employers who may just be starting out in business are 
already squeezing every penny. These employers are also people who open 
up the business in the morning, talk to customers, do the marketing, 
pay the bills, and just do not know how they can take on the additional 
duties, responsibilities, and liabilities of sponsoring a pension plan.
  I firmly believe that an increase in the number of people covered by 
pension plans will occur only when small employers have more 
substantial incentives to establish pension plans.
  The Pension Coverage and Portability Act contains provisions which 
will provide more flexibility for small employers, relief from 
burdensome rules and regulations, and a tax incentive to start new 
plans for their employees. One of the new top heavy provisions we have 
endorsed is an exemption from top heavy rules for employers who adopt 
the 401(k) safe harbor. This safe harbor will take effect in 1999. When 
the Treasury Department wrote the regulations and considered whether 
safe harbor plans should also have to satisfy the top heavy rules, they 
answered in the affirmative. As a result, a small employer would have 
to make a contribution of 7 percent of pay for each employee, a very 
costly proposition.
  My colleagues and I also have included a provision which repeals user 
fees for new plan sponsors seeking determination letters from the IRS. 
These fees can run from $100 to more than $1,000, depending on the type 
of plan. Given the need to promote retirement plan formation, we 
believe this ``rob Peter to pay Paul'' approach needs to be eliminated.
  We have also looked at the lack of success of SIMPLE 401(k) plans. A 
survey by the Investment Company Institute found that SIMPLE IRAs have 
proven successful, with almost 100,000 participants. However, SIMPLE 
401(k)s just haven't taken off. A couple of the reasons may be that the 
limits on SIMPLE 401(k)s are tighter than for the IRAs.
  Our bill equalizes the compensation limits for these plans; in 
addition, we have also increased the annual limit on both SIMPLEs to 
$8,000.
  One of the more revolutionary proposals is the creation of a Salary 
Reduction SIMPLE with a limit of $4,000. Unlike other SIMPLEs, the 
employer makes no match or automatic contributions. The employer match 
is usually a strong incentive for a low-income employee to participate 
in a savings plan. We hope that small employers will look at this 
SIMPLE as a transition plan, in place for just a couple of years during 
the initial stages of business operation--then adopt a more expansive 
plan when the business is profitable.
  The other targeted areas in the legislation include: Enhancing 
pension coverage for women.
  Women are more at risk of living in poverty as they age. They need 
more ways to save because of periodic departures from the workforce. To 
increase their saving capacity, we have also included a proposal 
similar to legislation I sponsored earlier this year, S. 1856, the 
Enhanced Savings Opportunities Act. Like S. 1856, the proposal repeals 
the 25% of salary contribution limit on defined contribution plans. 
This limit has seriously impeded savings by women, as well as low- and 
mid-salary employees.
  I prefer this approach to a catch-up provision. Catch-ups would most 
likely be voluntary on the part of the employer, do not encourage 
savings over working life, and do not necessarily help low and mid-
salary people. Repealing 415(c) is a simplifier, and will allow anyone 
covered by a defined contribution plan to benefit.
  The bill also contains proposals which promote new opportunities to 
rollover accounts from an old employer to a new employer. The lack of 
portability among plans is one of the weak links in our current pension 
system. This new bill contains technical improvements which will help 
ease the implementation of portability among the different types of 
defined contribution plans.
  Finally, I would like to point out a couple of other provisions in 
the bill. The first is the new requirement that plan sponsors 
automatically provide benefit statements to their participants on a 
periodic basis. For defined contribution plans, the statement would be 
required annually. For defined benefit plans, a statement would be 
required every three years. There is a very strong lack of 
understanding among participants about how their pensions work. There 
is also a high percentage of people who have done nothing to plan for 
their retirement.
  Providing clear and understandable benefit statements to pension plan 
participants would encourage people to think about how much money they 
can expect to receive in retirement. Further, a benefit statement will 
help people ensure that the information their employer maintains about 
them is accurate. Almost 80 percent of employers who sponsor defined 
benefit plans are providing some type of benefit statement 
automatically. All participants need these statements.
  This provision joins other proposals in a new section targeted at 
encouraging retirement education. Education can make a difference to 
workers. In fact, in companies which provide investment education, we 
know workers benefitted because many of them changed their investment 
allocations to more accurately reflect their investment horizons.
  A new provision that I encourage my colleagues to carefully consider 
targets the problem of participation by proposing an incentive for 
negative enrollment or ``opt-out'' plans. My staff and I were familiar 
with the example set by McDonald's Corp. which utilizes opt-out plans 
for their employees. But McDonald's was concerned that they might get 
in trouble with government regulators for operating their plan as an 
opt-out. President Clinton announced that McDonald's plan was legal--
and encouraged other employers to try opt-out plans. This bill includes 
an incentive for employers to create opt-out plans that we hope will 
increase participation among low-salary workers.
  This legislation joins a number of other strong proposals now pending 
in the House and here in the Senate. This legislation includes 
provisions which reflect some of those same proposals. I want to 
commend the sponsors of those bills. Our legislation has a lot in 
common with these other pension bills and we need to push for fast and 
favorable consideration of, at a minimum, the similar provisions in our 
legislation.
  We have a window of opportunity to act. The Baby Boomers are coming. 
The letters from AARP are starting to arrive in their mailboxes. The 
Social Security Administration is starting to stagger the delivery of 
benefit checks in preparation for their retirement. Many elderly 
households rely too heavily on Social Security. Future retirees will 
not be able to rely on all of the benefits now provided by Social 
Security. We can look to the pension system to pick up where Social 
Security leaves off, but we need to act.

[[Page S8675]]

  I thank the other co-sponsors of this legislation for all of their 
work, and I encourage our colleagues to give strong consideration to 
co-sponsoring this bill. With concerted, bipartisan action, we can 
improve the pension system. Pensions for today's workers will 
substantially improve the retirement outlook for millions of Americans. 
But we have some work to do if pensions are going to fulfill their 
promise.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, most people my age have known the 
heartache of having to watch their parents grow old. It is a sad day in 
a person's life when they see their father get his first gray hair. Or 
the day you notice lines in your mother's face where previously, there 
were none.
  This aging process is made worse by the scary and very real 
possibility that too many people who will become senior citizens in the 
next several years are not at all prepared for the transition from work 
to retirement.
  To be honest, it isn't our parents who we need to worry about so 
much. They survived the Depression. They know what it takes to get by 
during the lean years--it takes planning and saving. Putting money 
aside, when it might be easier to spend it in the moment.
  Those are the values that our parents live by. They are the values we 
would do well to heed. And even better to teach those who will follow 
us.
  We as a nation have lost our imperative to save. Personal savings 
rates have dropped to 3.8 percent of our Gross Domestic Product, the 
lowest in 58 years.
  Fifty-one million Americans in our nation's workforce have no pension 
coverage. But statistics like those don't tell the whole story. They 
don't do justice to the hardscrabble struggles that real people go 
through every day. Struggles that involve agonizing questions like: 
``Should I eat today or take my medication?'' or ``Will I be able to 
heat my house this winter?''
  Make no mistake, our nation's lack of saving for retirement is a 
tragedy in the making.
  That is why I am so proud to join my colleagues in introducing this 
legislation.
  A bill that will make it easier for Americans to put money aside, and 
a bill that will help move pension issues to the forefront of 
Americans' minds. A bill that will:
  Expand coverage for small businesses because they have a harder time 
affording health care and retirement plans;
  Enhance pension fairness for women because they fall into categories 
that have a harder time saving;
  Increase the portability of pension plans so that when you change 
jobs you don't have to worry about where your savings will go;
  Strengthen pension security and enforcement so you can rest easy at 
night, knowing your money is safe;
  Reduce red tape so it's easier for employers to give their workers 
retirement options;
  And encourage retirement education so that husbands and wives, 
parents and children, talk to each other--make plans for their future. 
And know what to expect tomorrow and down the road.
  One aspect of the bill I am particularly proud of are the small 
business provisions. Thirty-eight million of the people in this country 
who do not have a pension plan work at small businesses. Eighty percent 
of all small business employees have no pension coverage.
  In my state of Montana, more than 95 percent of our businesses are 
small businesses. And almost 9 out of 10 offer no pension plans. We 
cannot let these hard-working Americans down.
  Currently, most small businesses can't afford pension plans. They 
would like to, but they just can't make ends meet.
  Our bill makes it a smart business decision for small business owners 
to offer retirement plans.
  I have made it my priority to work with members of the small business 
community, both back in Montana and nationally, to identify legislative 
solutions that will most readily enable small businesses to offer 
pension plans to their employees. While this bill does not include 
every recommendation we received, it does represent a collection of 
high-priority proposals which we believe could be supported by a bi-
partisan majority of Congress.
  The major provisions in this bill which would help small businesses 
start and maintain pension plans include the following:
  To help make pension plans more affordable we have included two new 
tax credits: one to help defray start-up costs and the other to defray 
the cost of employer contributions to pension plans;
  In addition, we provide for the elimination of some fees.
  To address the problems the small business community has identified 
as a major impediment to establishing pension plans, we make 
significant changes in the top-heavy rules that limit employer 
contributions to plans.
  To address concerns of our smallest businesses, who want to provide 
pensions but can only afford `start-up' plans at first, we provide 
increases in income limits that apply to SIMPLE pension plans, along 
with a new, salary-reduction SIMPLE plan;
  And for those employers that want to provide the security of a 
defined benefit plan for their employees but cannot because of the 
increased regulatory burden, we create a simplified defined benefit 
plan for small business.
  These provisions are designed to address the problems of cost and 
complexity that are a barrier to so many small businesses. They will 
help small employers establish a pattern of saving for themselves and 
their employees.
  Mr. President, I hope the Pension Coverage and Portability Act will 
spearhead a national debate on how to improve employer-provide pensions 
in this country.
  This debate is essential if we are to achieve our goal of making 
America in the next century, not only strong as a nation, but strong as 
a community of individuals confident in the security of their financial 
futures.
  This is a good, bi-partisan bill. It takes the positive steps we as a 
nation need to put our future in safe hands.
  I am eager for the coming debate on this bill.
  I hope it sparks a debate in the coffee shops and kitchen tables all 
across the country. Working together, and with this bill, we can turn a 
nation of spenders, into a nation of savers.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in 
the Record letters from the Profit Sharing 401(k) Council of America, 
the American Society of Pension Actuaries, the Association of Private 
Pension and Welfare Plans, and the National Association of State 
Retirement Administrators, all of whom endorse this legislation.
  There being no objection, the letters were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                             Profit Sharing 401(K)


                                           Council of America,

                                       Chicago, IL, July 21, 1998.

            The Pension Coverage and Portability Act of 1998

       The Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America commends 
     Senators Graham, Grassley, Baucus, Breaux, Jeffords, D'Amato, 
     Hatch, and Kerrey for this comprehensive reform and updating 
     of the regulation of private pensions. We believe that this 
     legislation identifies and removes many barriers to 
     increasing retirement security for working Americans. Areas 
     of particular interest to our members include the 
     modification of top-heavy rules, the elimination of the 
     percentage of salary limit, and the removal of elective 
     deferrals from the employer deduction calculation.
       The Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA) is a 
     non-profit association that for the past fifty years has 
     represented companies that sponsor profit sharing and 401(k) 
     plans for their employees. PSCA has approximately 1200 
     company-members who employ approximately 3 million plan 
     participants throughout the United States. PSCA's members 
     range in size from a six employee parts distributor to firms 
     with hundreds of thousands of employees.
       We look forward to working together to achieve 
     implementation of this important bill.
                                  ____

                                               American Society of


                                            Pension Actuaries,

                                     Arlington, VA, July 21, 1998.
     Hon. Bob Graham,
     Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Graham: On behalf of the American Society of 
     Pension Actuaries, I am writing to express our strong support 
     for the Pension Coverage and Portability Act of 1998. This 
     comprehensive legislation recognizes the important role 
     played by the private pension system in providing retirement 
     savings for Americans.
       By simplifying the complicated tax laws governing 
     retirement plans, your legislation is a significant step in 
     the right direction that will encourage retirement plan 
     formation and expansion. Current law, and the thousands of 
     pages of accompanying regulations, have gone too far. Though 
     intended to

[[Page S8676]]

     increase access to private pension savings, these laws and 
     regulations have actually had an opposite effect, leaving 
     millions of American workers without an easy way to save 
     adequately for retirement.
       ASPA represents over 3,000 pension professionals who 
     provide services to approximately one-third of the qualified 
     retirement plans in the United States. The vast majority of 
     these plans are maintained by small businesses. Our members 
     have first-hand knowledge of the existing regulatory barriers 
     preventing retirement plan formation and retention by 
     employers. We believe the provisions in your legislation, 
     including the new simplified defined benefit plan for small 
     business called the SAFE plan, the elimination of the 25 
     percent of compensation limit on plan contributions, and the 
     relaxation of the top-heavy rules, will encourage employers 
     to offer pension plans for their employees, and will make it 
     easier for employees to increase their own retirement 
     savings.
       Again, ASPA thanks you for your work on retirement issues. 
     The Pension Coverage and Portability Act sends a strong 
     message that current regulations have gone too far. We look 
     forward to working with you to move this bill through the 
     legislative process.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Brian Graff,
     Executive Director.
                                  ____

                                    Association of Private Pension


                                             and Welfare Plans

                                    Washington, DC, July 21, 1998.
     Hon. Bob Graham,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Graham: I am writing on behalf of the 
     Association of Private Pension and Welfare Plans (APPWP) to 
     express our support for the Pension Coverage and Portability 
     Act. We commend you for your leadership in addressing the 
     need to strengthen the employer-sponsored retirement system. 
     The APPWP is the national trade association for companies 
     concerned about federal legislation and regulations affecting 
     all aspects of the employee benefits community. APPWP members 
     either sponsor directly or provide to employee benefit plans 
     covering more than 100 million Americans.
       Your legislation represents a significant step towards 
     improving the rules governing the employer sponsored 
     retirement system upon which millions of Americans rely for a 
     majority of their retirement income. More specifically, we 
     believe that passage of this legislation will expand 
     coverage, particularly among small businesses, allow 
     employers to design their plans to more effectively meet 
     their workers' needs and increase portability and 
     preservation of retirement income.
       In particular, we are pleased that you recognize the need 
     to include provisions that reduce the complexity and improve 
     the incentives for maintaining a retirement plan such as 
     repeal of the ``same desk rule,'' relief from the overly 
     restrictive ``anti-cut back rules,'' modification of the top-
     heavy and minimum distribution rules, simplification of the 
     ESOP dividend reinvestment rules and relief from the 
     anomalies of the mechanical nondiscrimination rules.
       However, as you continue your work on an improved employer-
     sponsored retirement system, we urge you to consider two 
     major savings incentives that regrettably have not been 
     included in the bill. As we discussed with you when you spoke 
     to our Board of Directors last September, increasing the 
     contribution limits and adding a ``catch-up'' contribution 
     provision would encourage plan participants to save more for 
     retirement. The need for American workers to save more 
     effectively was recently highlighted at the National Summit 
     on Retirement Savings and we believe it is critical that 
     Congress acknowledge its importance by providing increased 
     incentives. As you have recognized by the Pension Coverage 
     and Portability Act, the employer-sponsored retirement system 
     plays a vital role in assuring that Americans have adequate 
     retirement incomes. We look forward to working with you to 
     improve the savings incentives in employer-sponsored 
     retirement plans.
           Sincerely,
                                                   James A. Klein,
     President.
                                  ____

         National Association of State Retirement Administrators,
                                    Washington, DC, July 21, 1998.
     Hon. Bob Graham,
     Senate Hart Office Building, Washington, DC.
       RE: Support Public Pension Portability Provisions the 
     Senate Bipartisan Pension Tax Package
       Dear Senator Graham: On behalf of our nation's State 
     retirement plans and the millions of public employees, 
     retirees and beneficiaries who they cover, the National 
     Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) 
     supports public pension provisions contained in the Senate 
     Bipartisan Pension Tax Package.
       In particular, we support provisions in your legislation 
     that promote portability between various defined contribution 
     and deferred compensation plans, and that allow funds from 
     all of these plans to be used to purchase permissive service 
     credits in public defined benefit plans. We also applaud 
     provisions that would remove certain pension limitations.
       All of these provisions would help employees build and 
     strengthen their retirement savings, especially those who 
     have worked among various public, non-profit and private 
     institutions. Our organization is very grateful for your 
     leadership on former public pension legislation, and commends 
     you on your continued work in this area.
           Sincerely,
     M. Dee Williams,
       President.
     Richard E. Schumacher,
       Immediate Past President, Chair, Legislative Committee.

 Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I am glad to cosponsor the 
Pension Coverage and Portability Act of 1998, (PCPA). I cosponsored the 
predecessor bill, S. 889 with senators Graham, Hatch, and others, and 
PCPA is a natural follow-on to S. 889.
  This bill will encourage pension plan sponsorship among small 
businesses and make it easier for the small business man or woman to 
have greater confidence in government oversight of their plan and that 
they will not have to constantly hire services of actuaries, 
accountants and tax attorneys and investment advisers once they 
establish it. The bill makes it easier to implement a payroll deduction 
IRA, it provides for a simplified defined benefit pension plan, it 
allows a payroll deduction SIMPLE plan with limits twice as high as 
those currently available to IRAs, it eliminates IRS registration fees 
for new plans and provides a tax credit for plan start up, as well as 
many other things.
  The bill also eases the top-heavy rules. In the days when the only 
small pension plans belonged to doctor's and lawyer's offices, the top 
heavy rules were needed to assure non-discrimination in provision of 
benefits. But instead of expanding coverage, the top heavy rules now 
tend to impose harsh requirements on the small business owner which 
deters him or her from even offering a plan. This bill makes changes to 
the top heavy rules in constructive and thoughtful ways, such as by 
changing the family aggregation rules, taking employee elective 
contributions into account for purposes of meeting the standards and 
simplifying the definition of `key employee'.
  The bill makes pension plans more portable, a feature that is 
desperately needed in today's highly mobile workforce. Senator Graham 
has incorporated the body of S. 2329, the bill that he, Senator 
Bingaman and I introduced recently, as Title III of PCPA. Our bill 
eases rollovers, allows rollovers of after-tax contributions, waives 
the 60-day rule under certain circumstances, modifies the ``same-desk'' 
rule, rationalizes distribution rules and allows governmental workers 
to purchase service credit with defined contribution plan money to 
increase their benefits in their defined benefit plans. This bill makes 
essentially the same changes.
  In addition to encouraging plan sponsorship among small businesses 
and facilitating pension portability, the bill encourages retirement 
savings education. It also reduces the regulatory burdens associated 
with maintaining a plan, such as providing coverage test flexibility 
and freedom from the requirement to use mechanical nondiscrimination 
testing rules.
  Although I believe the vast majority of this measure takes positive 
steps forward, I do have some misgivings about the staffing firms 
provision included in section 108. I am cosponsoring PCPA despite the 
inclusion of section 108 in the bill, but I hope that Senator Graham 
and the other cosponsors will work with me to air the issues and try to 
address the concerns of those who oppose this provision in as 
constructive a manner as is appropriate.

                          ____________________