[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 155 (Wednesday, December 1, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H7817-H7819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1550
                   ACCREDITATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 1338) a bill to require the accreditation of English language 
training programs, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 1338

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

     SECTION 1. ACCREDITATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING 
                   PROGRAMS.

       (a) In General.--Section 101(a) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (15)(F)(i), by striking ``a language'' and 
     inserting ``an accredited language''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(52) The term `accredited language training program' 
     means a language training program that is accredited by an 
     accrediting agency recognized by the Secretary of 
     Education.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
     amendments made by subsection (a) shall--
       (A) take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act; and
       (B) apply with respect to applications for a nonimmigrant 
     visa under section 101(a)(15)(F)(i) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(F)(i)) that are filed 
     on or after the effective date described in subparagraph (A).
       (2) Temporary exception.--
       (A) In general.--Notwithstanding section 101(a)(15)(F)(i) 
     of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by 
     subsection (a), during the 3-year period beginning on the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, an alien

[[Page H7818]]

     seeking to enter the United States to pursue a course of 
     study at a language training program that has been certified 
     by the Secretary of Homeland Security and has not been 
     accredited or denied accreditation by an entity described in 
     section 101(a)(52) of such Act may be granted a nonimmigrant 
     visa under such section 101(a)(15)(F)(i).
       (B) Additional requirement.--An alien may not be granted a 
     nonimmigrant visa under subparagraph (A) if the sponsoring 
     institution of the language training program to which the 
     alien seeks to enroll does not--
       (i) submit an application for the accreditation of such 
     program to a regional or national accrediting agency 
     recognized by the Secretary of Education within 1 year after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act; and
       (ii) comply with the applicable accrediting requirements of 
     such agency.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker and Members, S. 1338 requires that visas for foreign 
students seeking to attend English schools in the United States only be 
granted when the student attends a school accredited by an agency 
recognized by the Secretary of Education. What we found, in short, is 
that some of these language schools are undermining the laudable 
mission of this visa program. And it has been determined that many of 
them are not even attending schools.
  So thanks to the diligence of the chairman of the Committee on 
Financial Services, Barney Frank, we have introduced the bill. The 
Senate has passed the same bill. Now it is over here for our final 
approval. But before I reserve the balance of my time, I would thank 
Lamar Smith, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I support S. 1338, which requires the accreditation of 
English language training programs for student visa holders, and I am a 
cosponsor of the House version of the bill. Accreditation of English 
programs will ensure that foreign students here on temporary visas 
receive the high-level English language education they deserve and 
expect. And this legislation will help give the students a positive 
experience in America as well.
  The bill prevents fraud in the student visa program and raises the 
quality of English language training programs in the United States. It 
does so by requiring accreditation, which is achieved only after 
certain learning criteria are met.
  Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a foreign national can get 
a student visa to study at a U.S. college, high school, or other 
learning institution such as an established ``language training program 
approved by the Secretary of Homeland Security after consultation with 
the Secretary of Education.'' This bill requires that a nonimmigrant 
foreign student seeking to enter the United States to study at a 
language training program must enroll in a program that is recognized 
and accredited by the Secretary of Education. The Senate has passed 
this legislation by unanimous consent, and I urge my colleagues to 
support it as well.
  Intensive English Programs (``IEPs'') serve to teach English to 
foreign students. There are 90,000 such students in the United States. 
The programs range in length from two weeks to one year, but average 12 
weeks. There are nearly 1,000 IEP's in the U.S., and students must 
study a minimum of 18 hours per week to meet their visa requirements.
  Currently all IEPs must be officially recognized, but that sometimes 
means there is just a check to see that the building in which the IEP 
is supposedly located, actually exists. The result of such lax 
monitoring is widespread fraud in the IEP community.
  Illegitimate IEPs either do not teach English well or serve as scams 
for individuals who want to come to the United States through 
fraudulent means. In April 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported, ``The 
operator of two English language schools was charged Wednesday with 
running a scheme that allowed foreign nationals, including several 
Russian prostitutes, to fraudulently obtain student visas to enter and 
stay in the United States.''
  In April 2009, two individuals who ran an English language school for 
immigrants in Duluth, GA, were indicted for submitting fraudulent 
documents to the Department of Homeland Security. They did so in order 
to get student visas for ``dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of `students.' 
''
  And last March agents in the Miami Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement Office conducted the ``largest single visa fraud takedown 
in [the] agency's history,'' when they arrested two women who helped 
obtain fraudulent student visas for over 200 individuals who were 
supposedly attending an English school, but who were not actually doing 
so.
  Such fraudulent programs, along with IEPs that do not function well, 
tarnish the reputation of the entire IEP industry. That's why the 
American Association of Intensive English Programs supports this 
legislation. And legitimate IEPs are interested in ensuring the quality 
of their programs.
  Under this bill, IEPs can meet the accreditation requirement in one 
of two ways. First, they can be under the governance of a university or 
college that has been accredited by a regional accrediting agency 
recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Or, second, they can be 
individually accredited by The Accrediting Council for Continuing 
Education and Training or the Commission or English Language Program 
Accreditation.
  The three typical steps in the accreditation process are (1) the 
completion of a written self-study that documents how the program or 
institution meets the standards of the accreditation agency; (2) a site 
visit by an agency team to verify that standards are being met; and (3) 
follow-up measures on the part of the school to correct any 
deficiencies, subject to review and final approval by the accreditation 
agency.
  Currently, many legitimate IEPs are voluntarily becoming accredited 
on their own.
  I urge my colleagues to support passage of this bill.
  Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Washington (Mr. Hastings).
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend 
from Texas for yielding.
  This legislation is a good piece of legislation. I urge my colleagues 
to support it.
  But there are other issues that I think need to be addressed today. 
There has been bipartisan agreement across this country and in Congress 
that blanket moratoriums on offshore drilling hurts America when it 
comes to jobs and energy. Yet the Obama administration has suddenly 
imposed a moratorium that closes the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the 
entire Atlantic coast.
  Madam Speaker, this is the wrong way to respond to the BP oil spill. 
It hurts our economy and job creation. The answer is not to say America 
can't figure it out and we should rely on other countries to produce 
our energy. The right answer is to find out what went wrong and make 
the effective, timely reforms that ensure that U.S. offshore drilling 
is the safest in the world.
  The Deepwater Horizon spill was a terrible tragedy; but this is a 
great country, Madam Speaker, and we shouldn't allow this single event 
to disrupt our long-term need to develop an all-of-the-above energy 
plan that includes the responsible development of our Nation's offshore 
oil and gas reserves.
  The administration has taken us in the wrong direction. Instead, we 
need to be working to keep and create energy jobs here in America.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. I am going to yield back, but can I ask my friends on 
the other side, if you have got another subject matter you want to 
introduce on a bill, can you wait until we pass the bill and then make 
your speech about whatever you want?
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 1338.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

[[Page H7819]]



                          ____________________