[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 145 (Friday, October 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13064-S13065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT AMENDMENT

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Acting in my capacity as an individual Senator 
from Kansas, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the 
consideration of Calendar No. 168, H.R. 441.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 441) to amend the Immigration and Nationality 
     Act with respect to the requirements of the admission of 
     nonimmigrant nurses who will practice in health professional 
     shortage areas.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.


                           Amendment No. 2326

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Senators Lott and Daschle have an amendment at 
the desk.
  The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kansas (Mr. Roberts), for Mr. Lott and Mr. 
     Daschle, proposes an amendment numbered 2326.

  The amendment is as follows:
       At the end of the bill add the following:

     SEC. ____. NATIONAL INTEREST WAIVERS OF JOB OFFER 
                   REQUIREMENTS FOR ALIENS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE 
                   PROFESSIONS HOLDING ADVANCED DEGREES OR ALIENS 
                   OF EXCEPTIONAL ABILITY.

       Section 203(b)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
     (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(B)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(B) Waiver of job offer.--
       ``(i) National interest waiver.--Subject to clause (ii), 
     the Attorney General may, when the Attorney General deems it 
     to be in the national interest, waive the requirements of 
     subparagraph (A) that an alien's services in the sciences, 
     arts, professions, or business be sought by an employer in 
     the United States.
       ``(ii) Physicians working in shortage areas or veterans 
     facilities.--

       ``(I) In general.--The Attorney General shall grant a 
     national interest waiver pursuant to clause (i) on behalf of 
     any alien physician with respect to whom a petition for 
     preference classification has been filed under subparagraph 
     (A) if--

       ``(aa) the alien physician agrees to work full time as a 
     physician in an area or areas designated by the Secretary of 
     Health and Human Services as having a shortage of health care 
     professionals or at a health care facility under the 
     jurisdiction of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and
       ``(bb) a Federal agency or a department of public health in 
     any State has previously determined that the alien 
     physician's work in such an area or at such facility was in 
     the public interest.

[[Page S13065]]

       ``(II) Prohibition.--No permanent resident visa may be 
     issued to an alien physician described in subclause (I) by 
     the Secretary of State under section 204(b), and the Attorney 
     General may not adjust the status of such an alien physician 
     from that of a nonimmigrant alien to that of a permanent 
     resident alien under section 245, until such time as the 
     alien has worked full time as a physician for an aggregate of 
     five years (not including the time served in the status of an 
     alien described in section 101(a)(15)(J)), in an area or 
     areas designated by the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services as having a shortage of health care professionals or 
     at a health care facility under the jurisdiction of the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
       ``(III) Statutory construction.--Nothing in this 
     subparagraph may be construed to prevent the filing of a 
     petition with the Attorney General for classification under 
     section 204(a), or the filing of an application for 
     adjustment of status under section 245, by an alien physician 
     described in subclause (I) prior to the date by which such 
     alien physician has completed the service described in 
     subclause (II).''.

       (IV) Effective date.--The requirements of this subsection 
     do not affect waivers on behalf of alien physicians approved 
     under section 203(b)(2)(B) before the enactment date of this 
     subsection. In the case of a physician for whom an 
     application for a waiver was filed under Section 203(b)(2)(B) 
     prior to November 1, 1998, the Attorney General shall grant a 
     national interest waiver pursuant to Section 203(b)(2)(B) 
     except that the alien is required to have worked full time as 
     a physician for an aggregate of three years (not including 
     time served in the status of an alien described in section 
     101(a)(15)(J)) before a visa can be issued to the alien under 
     Section 204(b) or the status of the alien is adjusted to 
     permanent resident under Section 245.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be 
agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 2326) was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 2327

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is a second amendment at the desk.
  The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kansas (Mr. Roberts), for Mr. Hatch, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 2327.

  The amendment is as follows:
       At the end of the bill insert the following:

     SEC.   . FURTHER CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF CERTAIN 
                   INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING FIRMS.

       Section 206(a) of the Immigration Act of 1990 (8 U.S.C. 
     1101 note) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(a) Clarification of Treatment of Certain International 
     Accounting and Management Consulting Firms.--In applying 
     sections 101(a)(15)(L) and 203(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act, and for no other purpose, in the case of 
     a partnership that is organized in the United States to 
     provide accounting or management consulting services and that 
     markets its accounting or management consulting services 
     under an internationally recognized name under an agreement 
     with a worldwide coordinating organization that is 
     collectively owned and controlled by the member accounting 
     and management consulting firms or by the elected members 
     (partners, shareholders, members, employees) thereof, an 
     entity that is organized outside the United States to provide 
     accounting or management consulting services shall be 
     considered to be an affiliate of the United States accounting 
     or management consulting partnership if it markets its 
     accounting or management consulting services under the same 
     internationally recognized name directly or indirectly under 
     an agreement with the same worldwide coordinating 
     organization of which the United States partnership is also a 
     member. Those partnerships organized within the United States 
     and entities organized outside the United States which are 
     considered affiliates under this subsection shall continue to 
     be considered affiliates to the extent such firms enter into 
     a plan of association with a successor worldwide coordinating 
     organization, which need not be collectively owned and 
     controlled.''.

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, the amendment I am offering is a minor, 
technical clarification to the L visa program. The L visa is a 
temporary, nonimmigrant visa allowing a U.S. company which is part of 
an international business to make intra-company transfers from overseas 
of foreign executives, managers, and employees with specialized 
knowledge to America. In 1990, Congress clarified that international 
accounting firms and their related management consulting practices 
would be able to use the L visas. This specific provision in the 
Immigration Act of 1990 was thought necessary by Congress because, for 
legal and historical reasons, international accounting firms and their 
management consulting businesses are not organized the same way most 
international corporations are organized. The laws of various foreign 
countries relating to the accounting profession have caused the 
international accounting and associated management consulting 
businesses to be generally organized as partnerships held together by 
contracts with a worldwide coordinating organization. The INS 
regulations reflect congressional intent to be sure that international 
accounting firms and their associated management consulting businesses 
so organized would not be at a disadvantage under the L visa program. 8 
CFR Section 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(L)(3).
  My amendment will make sure that any international management 
consulting firm that separates from an international accounting firm, 
yet continues to maintain the qualifying worldwide organizational 
structure, may continue to use the L visa even if it is no longer 
connected to an accounting firm. Thus, no new category of beneficiaries 
may use the L visa. On the other hand, no business currently able to 
use the L visa will lose the right to do so under this amendment, 
including management consulting firms which have a relationship with an 
international accounting firm or which are organized in a more typical 
international corporate structure.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. I ask unanimous consent that the amendments be 
agreed to, the bill be read a third time and passed, as amended, the 
motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements 
relating to the bill be printed in the Record.
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 441), as amended, was passed.

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