[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5720-S5721]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6197. Mr. DURBIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe)
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize
appropriations for
[[Page S5721]]
fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the Department of Defense,
for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department
of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal
year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:
At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:
SEC. 1077. RECAPTURING UNUSED IMMIGRANT VISAS FOR
PROFESSIONAL NURSES AND PHYSICIANS.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act''.
(b) In General.--Section 106(d) of the American
Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000
(Public Law 106-313; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note) is amended to read
as follows:
``(d) Recapture of Unused Employment-Based Immigrant
Visas.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), and
notwithstanding any other provision of law, the number of
employment-based visas made available under section 203(b) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) shall
be increased by the number calculated in paragraph (3).
``(2) Limitations.--
``(A) In general.--Visas may only be made available under
this subsection for up to 40,000 employment-based immigrants
(and their family members accompanying or following to join
under section 203(d) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(d))) whose
immigrant worker petitions were filed before the date that is
90 days after the termination of the President's declaration
of a national emergency under sections 201 and 301 of the
National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) pertaining
to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States (referred to in
this subsection as the `COVID-19 emergency declaration').
``(B) Reservations.--Of the visas authorized under
subparagraph (A)--
``(i) 25,000 shall be reserved for professional nurses; and
``(ii) 15,000 shall be reserved for physicians.
``(C) Exemption from country caps.--Visas made available
under this subsection--
``(i) shall not be subject to the per country numerical
limitation set forth in section 202(a)(2) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2)); and
``(ii) shall be issued in order of the priority date
assigned at the time the visa petition was filed.
``(3) Number available.--
``(A) Unused visas.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
number calculated in this paragraph is the difference
between--
``(i) the total number of employment-based visas that were
made available in fiscal years 1992 through 2020; and
``(ii) the total number of such visas that were used in
such fiscal years.
``(B) Reduction and limitation.--The number described in
subparagraph (A) shall be reduced, for each fiscal year
following the first fiscal year in which the COVID-19
emergency declaration is in effect, by the cumulative number
of immigrant visas used pursuant to paragraph (1).
``(C) Family members.--
``(i) In general.--Family members described in section
203(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1153(d)) who are accompanying or following to join a
principal beneficiary seeking admission under this subsection
shall be entitled to an unreserved visa in the same status
and in the same order of consideration as such principal
beneficiary.
``(ii) Exempt from skill-based numerical limitation.--Visas
described in clause (i)--
``(I) shall be made available from the pool of recaptured
unused immigrant visas calculated under subparagraph (A); and
``(II) shall not be counted against the total number of
immigrant visas reserved for professional nurses and
physicians under paragraph (2).
``(D) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this paragraph may
be construed as affecting the application of section
201(c)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1151(c)(3)(C)).
``(4) Premium processing; expedited processing.--
``(A) Premium processing.--The Secretary of Homeland
Security, in conjunction with the Secretary of State, shall
provide premium processing procedures, as provided for under
section 286(u) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1356(u)), for reviewing and acting upon petitions and
applications for immigrants described in paragraph (2).
Notwithstanding such section, U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services may not charge a premium fee for such
services.
``(B) Shipping petitions.--The Director of U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services shall expedite the shipping of each
petition described in subparagraph (A) requiring consular
processing to the Department of State immediately after--
``(i) the completed petition has been resolved; and
``(ii) the petitioner has replied to any request from U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services for additional evidence.
``(C) Expedited processing.--The Secretary of State shall
expedite the processing of applications for immigrants
described in paragraph (2) after receiving a petition on
behalf of such immigrants from U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services.
``(5) Labor attestation.--Before an immigrant visa reserved
under paragraph (2)(B)(i) is issued to an alien, the
petitioner shall attest, in the job offer letter presented by
the alien to a consular officer during the consular
interview, that the hiring of the alien has not displaced and
will not displace a United States worker.''.
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