[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 4, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S4825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FAILURE TO SOLVE H-2B VISA CRISIS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I regret the need to once again call 
attention to the fact that the Senate continues to neglect our 
obligation to respond to a crisis, caused by Federal policy, that is 
disrupting the operations of small and large businesses throughout the 
United States.
  Two months ago the Department of Homeland Security announced that for 
the first time ever the annual cap for H-2B visas had been met. These 
visas are used by a wide range of industries throughout the Nation to 
fill temporary labor needs. In my home State of Vermont, they are used 
primarily by the tourist industry.
  Across the country, businesses in a wide range of industries had 
developed plans that relied on the foreign employees who had always 
before been available to them. For years, these employers had applied 
in the spring for the employees they needed for the summer, filling 
positions for which they were unable to find American workers. The cap 
had never been reached, and they had no reason to believe this year 
would be different. I know that the March announcement came as a shock 
to many employers in my State, and dozens of them contacted my office 
to see what could be done. This setback fell equally hard on employers 
in other States.
  In response to these requests, I joined with a substantial bipartisan 
coalition in introducing S. 2252, the Save Summer Act of 2004. Senator 
Kennedy is the lead sponsor of the bill, which has 18 cosponsors, 
including eight Republicans. Our bill would add 40,000 visas for the 
current fiscal year, providing relief to those summer-oriented 
businesses that had never even had the opportunity to apply for visas.
  The following day, Senator Hatch introduced S. 2258, the Summer 
Operations and Services Relief and Reform Act. I do not believe that 
this bill, cosponsored exclusively by Republicans, is as effective a 
bill as S. 2252, but I would support it if it came before the Senate. 
Despite its sponsorship by the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and 
by the chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, S. 2258 has now been 
held hostage in the Republican cloakroom for 5 weeks.
  Obtaining these visas takes weeks, if not months, because the 
Departments of Labor and Homeland Security must both sign off on them. 
I and others have repeatedly warned that we needed to pass legislation 
by May 1 if we were going to provide meaningful relief. That date has 
come and gone, and now it is too late to help many, if not all, of the 
businesses that had relied upon the availability of H-2B visas. It is 
beyond disappointing that at the Republican leadership in this body 
ignored my pleas and the pleas of so many Senators. And it is 
inexcusable that the Republican leadership ignored the pleas of 
business owners across the country asking for this emergency relief.
  And so it is that a tiny minority of the Republican caucus has 
managed to frustrate the will of a substantial bipartisan coalition of 
Senators who have sought to raise the H-2B cap, thereby needlessly 
harming businesses throughout the Nation. Meanwhile, the Republican 
leadership has failed to make solving this problem a priority. Perhaps 
if the majority leader chose to devote floor time to issues that had 
substantial bipartisan support, instead of using the floor to set up 
symbolic votes whose results are known well in advance, we would not be 
in this position.
  These businesses contribute much to the economies of our States. They 
deserve better treatment than they have received at the hands of the 
Republican leadership of the Senate.

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