[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6380-6385]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 EXTENDING CERTAIN IMMIGRATION PROGRAMS

  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the 
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1127) to extend certain immigration 
programs.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1127

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

     SECTION 1. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT NONMINISTER RELIGIOUS WORKER 
                   PROGRAM.

       Subclauses (II) and (III) of section 101(a)(27)(C)(ii) of 
     the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1101(a)(27)(C)(ii)) are amended by striking ``March 6, 
     2009,'' each place such term appears and inserting 
     ``September 30, 2009,''.

     SEC. 2. WAIVER OF FOREIGN COUNTRY RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT WITH 
                   RESPECT TO INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL GRADUATES.

       Section 220(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Technical 
     Corrections Act of 1994 (8 U.S.C. 1182 note) is amended by 
     striking ``March 6, 2009'' and inserting ``September 30, 
     2009''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.


                             General Leave

  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.

                              {time}  1400

  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1127 extends two immigration programs, one for 
religious workers and one for doctors who serve in medically 
underserved areas, through the end of this fiscal year. If we do not 
extend these programs, they will sunset on March 6, 2009, just 3 days 
from today. These programs are too important to let expire.
  The Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Program allows 
religious workers to enter the United States to do important work. The 
5,000 religious workers eligible for these visas each year are called 
to a vocation or are in traditional religious occupations with bona 
fide nonprofit religious organizations. They are missionaries, 
counselors, instructors, and pastoral care providers. Considering the 
current economic crisis we are experiencing and the degree to which 
Americans are turning to religious organizations for help, these 
religious workers are needed now more than ever.
  The other program is the so-called Conrad ``J Waiver,'' a critically 
important immigration program that helps medically underserved 
communities attract highly skilled physicians. This

[[Page 6381]]

program is crucial to the States as it helps them attract doctors who 
have received their medical training in the United States to work in 
areas that desperately need doctors.
  Its importance was demonstrated again a year and a half ago when a 
tornado utterly destroyed the town of Greensburg, Kansas. Without this 
program, that town would not have had any doctors. They were of 
tremendous help in keeping casualties to a minimum. We need to keep 
this program going so that States can attract medical talent and can 
keep the doors of small town clinics open.
  Both of these programs have strong bipartisan support, and this bill 
would extend the programs through the end of the fiscal year when the 
issue can be revisited, hopefully, in a much broader context.
  I commend committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith for his work in making 
this a bipartisan measure. I urge my colleagues to support this 
important legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the gentlelady from California 
for introducing this very important legislation, this commonsense 
legislation, to help the medical community but, more importantly, to 
help those who are medically ill throughout the United States and the 
rest of the world. So I support H.R. 1127, which reauthorizes two 
deserving programs through the end of this fiscal year.
  Foreign citizens who participate in medical residencies in the United 
States on what is called the ``J'' visa exchange program must generally 
leave the United States at the conclusion of their residencies and 
reside abroad for 2 years before they can be allowed to return to this 
country. The intent is to encourage American-trained foreign doctors to 
go home to improve health conditions and advance the medical profession 
in their native countries.
  In 1994, Congress created a waiver of this 2-year foreign residence 
requirement, and this waiver was available, if requested, by the State 
departments of public health for foreign doctors who are committed to 
practicing medicine for 3 years in areas having a shortage of health 
care professionals. This program has been very successful, and Congress 
has extended the waiver on multiple occasions.
  This waiver's current authorization expires this Friday. The 
gentlelady from California, with this legislation, reauthorizes the 
waiver until September 30, 2009, the end of the fiscal year.
  This bill also extends the authorization for certain religious worker 
immigrant visas. The Immigration and Nationality Act makes available 
green cards each year to special immigrant religious workers. This 
program allows religious denominations in the United States to bring in 
needed religious workers--both ministers and those working in religious 
occupations or vocations--so long as the workers have been performing 
those functions for at least 2 previous years.
  The non-minister categories were added by the 1990 immigration bill, 
and Congress has extended their authorization several times since then. 
However, the authorization also expires this Friday. This bill extends 
the program through September 30, 2009, the end of the fiscal year. 
These visas assist many American religious denominations to meet the 
needs of their followers.
  Because this bill reauthorizes two worthy immigration programs, I 
urge my colleagues to support this.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I would now yield 2 
minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak).
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I must stand in opposition to 
allowing immigration extensions or reforms without addressing a 
temporary extension of the H-2B returning worker program.
  The H-2B visa program was created to provide access to nonimmigrant, 
temporary workers for seasonal and peak load needs when no American 
workers can be found. Foreign workers offer small and seasonal 
businesses short-term help, and they return to their home countries at 
the end of the season. H-2B visas are capped at 66,000 visas per year. 
Even with 66,000 visas per year, it does not meet the labor needs of 
seasonal businesses.
  To help fill these needs, Congress established the H-2B returning 
worker program in 2005. This program exempts returning workers who have 
received an H-2B visa in one of three previous fiscal years from 
counting against the 66,000 cap. However, this exemption expired on 
September 30, 2007. In the 110th Congress, this exemption had the 
support of 158 bipartisan Members of Congress--88 Democrats and 70 
Republicans. In the 111th Congress, the bill has just been introduced, 
and we already have the support of 32 Democrats and 23 Republicans. As 
of January 7, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had already 
received enough visa petitions to exceed the cap for H-2B visas for the 
second half of this fiscal year.
  This demand highlights the immediate need for Congress to extend the 
H-2B visa returning worker program to help small and seasonal 
businesses fill their seasonal labor needs and to keep full-time 
Americans and businesses working. These returning workers have provided 
relief to small businesses throughout the Nation, covering a broad 
spectrum of industries like landscapers, tourism, restaurants, hotels, 
and seafood processors.
  H-2B workers offer short-term help. They cannot and do not stay in 
the United States. More importantly, the H-2B program contains strong 
provisions to ensure American workers have the first chance to work.
  Without an extension of the returning worker program, small and 
seasonal businesses will face significant labor shortages this year as 
they did last year. We have constantly been told we cannot bring this 
bill to the floor until we address comprehensive immigration. Then why 
are we bringing up the J-1 program when we're letting H-2B expire?
  Therefore, regrettably, I must oppose H.R. 1127.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the ranking 
member of the Judiciary Committee (Mr. Smith of Texas).
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 1127, but I also 
agree with Steve King, the ranking member of the immigration 
subcommittee, about the need for religious worker reciprocity. Some 
countries that send religious workers to the United States refuse entry 
to religious workers from the United States and do not allow for the 
free exercise of religion.
  Each year, the U.S. Commission of International Religious Freedom 
compiles a list of countries that seek to control religious thought and 
expression, that show open hostility to religious minorities and that 
fail to protect certain religious groups. The 2008 list includes Burma, 
North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, 
and Uzbekistan.
  One way to help advance religious freedom is to do as Representative 
King suggests and prevent citizens of countries that are hostile to 
religious freedom from participating in our religious worker visa 
program. Both the Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker 
Program and the rural J-1 visa waiver program are set to expire this 
Friday, March 6. H.R. 1127 extends both programs until September 30, 
2009.
  The J-1 visa program provision waives the 2-year foreign residency 
requirement for foreign doctors who are willing to serve in medically 
underserved areas. The waiver program enables people in rural and in 
intercity communities to have access to quality medical care. The 
Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Program allows 5,000 
religious workers per year to enter the United States to assist 
churches and other religious establishments.
  While I support the program, I have long been concerned about the 
level of fraud. In 2006, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 
Office conducted an assessment on the religious worker visa program. 
They selected 220 religious workers at random and found

[[Page 6382]]

fraud in one-third of the cases. In addition, they found ``many of the 
cases reviewed had multiple fraud indicators.'' In 32 of the fraudulent 
cases, the religious institution was not bona fide. It either did not 
exist or it existed only on paper. Thirty-nine of the fraudulent cases 
were marked by fraudulent supporting documentation or material 
misrepresentations within a document by a legitimate religious 
institution.
  The Department of Homeland Security issued a final rule last 
November, making several changes designed to reduce fraud in the 
program. Immigration Chairwoman Lofgren and I are awaiting a report by 
the DHS inspector general regarding the effectiveness of those fraud 
prevention measures. I hope we will address concerns about fraud and 
will also ensure that reciprocity is contained in any future extension 
of the religious worker visa program.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to 
the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, I am rising in support of this legislation, 
and I do so with some sadness because I agree with the point made on 
the H-2B visa by the gentleman from Michigan.
  However, within this J-1 bill before us, H.R. 1127, is legislation to 
extend the Conrad 30 program, which expires on March 6, 2009. Now, that 
is a program, the basis of which many foreign medical professionals 
presently serving in many medically underserved areas, including in 
North Dakota, are here. So if we don't get this done in time--and let's 
face it. March 6, 2009 is right on our head right now--we raise havoc 
with the delivery of medical care through many rural underserved areas. 
We are literally talking about the medical professionals having to pack 
up and go home. We've worked mighty hard to get them there in the first 
place. If we lose them, they may never come back.
  What's more: What about the patients in these rural clinics this 
afternoon who are seeing their physicians? What if the physician is 
gone and care is disrupted?
  There are many ways to make a point, but we have got something that 
could be, for many, a matter of life and death, and that's keeping 
these medical professionals in the rural area by extending for 6 months 
this Conrad State 30 Program. It's just too important. We need it too 
badly.
  So I urge the enactment of this legislation, giving us 6 more months 
on that program. Then I urge us to take the gentleman's point and pass 
the H-2B visa reform.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the ranking 
member of the Subcommittee on Immigration (Mr. King of Iowa).
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, we're here to address the extension of 
these two programs, including the religious worker visa program 
extension, which is set up to authorize now until September 30 of this 
year, until the end of this fiscal year.
  I had recommended that we bring this bill back before committee for 
the purposes of a markup so that we could reevaluate the policy. We 
have had hearings on this subject matter in the previous Congress, and 
we all know that the actions of the previous Congress don't color the 
existing Congress.
  The history of the religious worker visa program has had some 
problems with fraud. It was created in 1990, but from the beginning, it 
has been a magnet for people who want to perpetrate a scam on America's 
immigration system.
  According to the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs--and 
this is dated September of 2005, their Fraud Digest--``The religious 
worker visas are known as some of the most difficult to adjudicate.''
  The Fraud Digest then goes on to discuss various cases in which 
people were prosecuted for fraudulent use of the program, the religious 
worker program. For instance, in 2004, a Venezuelan national was 
convicted in Virginia visa fraud. He had filed 179 fraudulent petitions 
for religious ministers. In addition to creating fraudulent 
certificates of ordination, diplomas and other supporting 
documentation, he also obtained valid 501(c)(3) tax exemptions from 
recognized religious organizations without their knowledge.
  The immigration subcommittee has long been aware of the fraud in this 
program. Mr. Speaker, I take you back to a 1997 GAO investigation which 
was requested by the subcommittee. The State Department conducted a 
field inquiry to get the views of consular offices as to the level and 
type of fraud. In 41 percent of the 83 responding posts, some type of 
fraud or abuse was acknowledged. The State Department also noted that, 
under the program's regulations, ``almost anyone involved with a 
church, aside from the explicitly excluded occupations of cleaning, 
maintenance and support staff . . . arguably could qualify as a 
religious worker.''

                              {time}  1415

  This clearly wasn't the intent of the program. It doesn't remain the 
intent of the program that will, I think, likely be reauthorized today.
  When the GAO released its final report in 1999, the agency noted that 
the types of fraud often encountered in the processing of religious 
worker visas ``involved petitioners making false statements about the 
length of time that the applicant was a member of the religious 
organization and the nature of the qualifying experience.''
  The report went on to state that ``evidence uncovered by INS suggests 
that some of these organizations exist solely as a means to carry out 
immigration fraud.'' That was then. This is more current.
  Recently, I will say in July of 2006, Mr. Speaker, the U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Service's Office of Fraud Detection and 
National Security conducted a fraud benefit assessment on the Religious 
Worker Visa Program. They selected 220 cases at random--of which we're 
very familiar with on the committee--they found an astonishing 33 
percent fraud rate. That's one of every three were fraudulently based. 
In 32 of the fraudulent cases, the religious institution either didn't 
exist or only existed on paper. And 39 of the fraudulent petitions 
included fraudulent supporting documentation or material 
representations within a document.
  Other instances of fraud included cases where the petitioner could 
not be located or connected to any religious entity and where the 
petitioning religious entity was unaware that the petition had been 
filed and was unaware of the beneficiary.
  Also in the modern era, in 2003, Mohammed Khalil and three of his 
sons were arrested in connection with submitting false applications to 
bring over 200 individuals to the United States using the religious 
worker visa program. During court proceedings, prosecutors revealed 
that Khalil made statements to an undercover witness professing 
allegiance to Osama bin Laden. He also allegedly stated, ``Hopefully, 
another attack in the United States will come shortly.''
  That gives you, I think, Mr. Speaker, the feel for how this program 
has been abused.
  However, I want to make clear, Mr. Speaker, to you and to the Record, 
and eventually to the American people, that I recognize--as will every 
Member of this Congress--that there are very sincere religious workers 
who come to the United States that fit within the category and within 
the intent of this Congress. And I think what we need to do today is 
honor them, thank them, recognize that this is a country that was built 
upon religious freedom. And where we can promote religious freedom, we 
need to do so within our own borders and around the globe.
  That's why I have raised the issue that we are receiving religious 
workers from countries that will not allow American religious workers 
to go into them unless they fit within their narrowly defined religious 
category.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Childers). The time of the gentleman has 
expired.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. So this being an American value of religious 
freedom and religious liberty, we need to also

[[Page 6383]]

export that freedom around the world. We have many soldiers that are 
buried in foreign lands to promote that freedom. They've paid their 
price. There's been a price paid in this country continually for 
religious freedom. We need to promote it around the world.
  For us to open up the doors of the United States of America to 
religious workers from countries who come here to advance their version 
of their side of society and not have those countries allow American 
missionaries to come into them, I think sets up a standard that we 
should not tolerate. So I will be introducing legislation that sets up 
a reciprocity program in this religious workers visa program. And I 
look forward to the opportunity in September or prior to September to 
raise this issue in a better format.
  Until that time, and believing that we will have an open forum in 
this Congress and a real legitimate debate on the subject of religious 
worker reciprocity, I intend to support this resolution today and work 
in good faith to improve it before it comes up for reauthorization on 
September 30, 2009.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, we have no additional 
speakers.
  If the gentleman has additional speakers, I would reserve and allow 
him to proceed.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman 
from Kansas (Mr. Moran).
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. To the gentleman from Texas, I thank you for 
yielding time.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm here to speak in favor of at least a portion of this 
bill related to the J-1 Visa program. I am a co-chair of the Rural 
Health Care Coalition along with the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. 
Pomeroy). In our efforts in rural States to attract and retain 
physicians in communities that are highly underserved with medical 
care, the J-1 Visa program, the Conrad 30 program, has become a 
critical component of our ability to maintain a health care delivery 
system.
  Kansas alone since 2002 has attracted and retained 103 physicians. 
There are many communities that I represent in Kansas that have no 
doctor except for a J-1 Visa doc. Now, a J-1 Visa doctor is someone 
born in a foreign county but trains in the United States, takes their 
residency and certification here and earns the ability to practice 
medicine.
  In return for serving in an underserved area--and while I represent 
generally a rural State--these underserved areas are often urban areas 
of our country as well. And in return for serving the needs of patients 
in those communities across America, they are allowed to remain in the 
United States for an additional 3 years.
  Just last August--an example of where this comes home--the American 
Methodist Ministries of Garden City, Kansas, finally was able to 
recruit a physician for their community health clinic. That physician 
is a J-1 visa doctor from Peru; bilingual--a very added attractive 
feature to this physician's practice, but for a community that was so 
desperate for a physician, really a dream come true.
  Much about how to save lives, improve the health of Kansans and 
Americans relate to this program. We have tried for a number of years 
to extend the J-1 visa program longer than for a year at a time. And 
there are those who want to make changes, reallocate the physicians 
among States. The Conrad 30 program, the J-1 visa program, allocates 30 
physicians per State in the country. The program is managed by State 
agencies who make the determination and have some flexibility in 
determining the definition of what is underserved. Most often, it's a 
general practice, a family, internal medicine doctor; but occasionally 
it's a specialist in an area that has no ability to attract and 
maintain a specialist, maybe even at a university hospital setting.
  So I come to the floor today to express my desire to see that the J-1 
visa program is extended and would tell you that it's very much about 
saving the lives of persons and very much about increasing the chances 
that we improve the health of Americans across our country.
  So I'm appreciative of the Judiciary Committee bringing this bill to 
the floor. I congratulate its author for that success, and I'm looking 
forward to seeing it work its way through a long and always arduous 
process as we try to balance various States, various regions of the 
country and a need for physicians across America with the available 
physicians in this country.
  So I appreciate being yielded to. I thank the Speaker for the time I 
have had to speak in favor. I would like to encourage my colleagues, 
whether you're from a rural area like me or an urban area like many 
others, this program matters in the lives of many Americans.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I would inquire if the 
gentleman has additional speakers.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers. I 
support this resolution.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I would just urge, again, 
support for this measure. I would also like to include in the Record a 
letter dated today signed by a number of religious groups, including 
the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the Mennonites, the 
National Association of Evangelicals, the U.S. Catholic Conference of 
Catholic Bishops and others outlaying the need for religious workers in 
this country and urging support of the bill.

                                                    March 4, 2009.
       Dear Representative: We write to strongly urge the House of 
     Representatives to pass H.R. 1127, legislation that would 
     extend the Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker 
     Visa Program through September 30, 2009. As you know, without 
     congressional action, this important program is set to expire 
     on March 6, 2009.
       The Special Immigrant Non-Minister portion of the Religious 
     Worker Visa Program became law in 1990. Originally enacted 
     with a sunset provision, it has enjoyed broad, bipartisan 
     support in Congress and has been reauthorized four times 
     since then.
       Under this important program, up to 5,000 visas each year 
     are available for religious workers employed by a broad range 
     of religious denominations and organizations. Religious 
     communities that participate in the program have found these 
     special visas vital to carrying out their work. The following 
     are just a few examples of how large and small religious 
     denominations and organizations use the visas to benefit 
     their own communities and the larger society:
       Catholic dioceses and Catholic institutes of religious men 
     and women rely heavily upon religious sisters, brothers, and 
     lay missionaries from abroad, who are sponsored and qualify 
     for these permanent residency visas. Some fill a growing need 
     in the Catholic Church for those called to religious 
     vocations. Others provide critical services to local 
     communities in areas including religious education, and care 
     for vulnerable populations such as the elderly, immigrants, 
     refugees, abused and neglected children, adolescents and 
     families at risk.
       Jewish congregations, particularly in remote areas with 
     small Jewish communities, rely on rabbis, cantors, kosher 
     butchers, Hebrew school teachers, and other religious workers 
     who come from abroad through the religious worker program. 
     Without them, many Jewish communities would be unable to 
     sustain the institutions and practices that are essential to 
     Jewish religious and communal life.
       Smaller religious communities rely on the visa, as well. 
     For example, the lifetime vocation of members of the Church 
     Communities International, a religious communal order, 
     includes a commitment to Christian brotherhood and faithful 
     service through the provision of emergency relief, housing 
     assistance, food distribution, education, medical care, 
     counseling and mediation. To affect its ministries, the order 
     depends upon the ability afforded by the program to relocate 
     non-clergy religious members from its locations overseas.
       Other religious denominations, such as the Methodist and 
     Baptist churches, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, the 
     Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Lutheran 
     Church, the Hindu faith, the Church of Scientology, and the 
     Seventh Day Adventist Church, also rely on the visas to bring 
     in non-minister religious workers, who, in addition to 
     providing some of the same services mentioned above, also 
     work in areas as diverse as teaching in church schools, 
     temple workers, producing religious publications, sustaining 
     prison ministries, and training health care professionals to 
     provide religiously appropriate health care.
       Because of the increasingly diverse ethnic makeup of our 
     religious congregations and the nation as a whole, the 
     special immigrant religious worker visa category is 
     particularly important in addressing the specific

[[Page 6384]]

     pastoral and service-related needs of ethnic groups, 
     including the Hispanic, Asian, and African communities. A 
     special category for non-minister religious workers is also 
     necessary because religious organizations face obstacles in 
     using traditional employment immigration categories, which 
     historically have not fit their unique situations.
       We ask that you support H.R. 1127, which would extend this 
     important program, prior to its expiration on March 6, 2009. 
     Your support is vital for the continuation of the Non-
     Minister Special Immigrant Religious Worker Visa program and 
     for the service of its beneficiaries on behalf of religious 
     organizations and communities across the nation.
       Thank you for your continuing support of the Religious 
     Worker Visa Program and your assistance in achieving a 
     permanent extension of this program.
           Respectfully,
         American Jewish Committee; Catholic Legal Immigration 
           Network, Inc.; Church Communities International; 
           Conference of Major Superiors of Men; Hebrew Immigrant 
           Aid Society; Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service; 
           Mennonite Central Committee, United States.
         National Association of Evangelicals; National Spiritual 
           Assembly of the Bahai of the United States; The Church 
           of Scientology International; The First Church of 
           Christ, Scientist, Boston, MA; United Methodist Church, 
           General Board of Church and Society; World Relief; U.S. 
           Conference of Catholic Bishops.

  I would just briefly note that as to the H-2B program, we are 
struggling mightily to see if we can reach consensus on that. We have 
efforts underway. I can make no guarantee that we will be successful, 
but there are active efforts underway to see if consensus can be 
reached.
  As for the other issues raised, I would just like to note that Mr. 
Smith and I have worked very closely to make sure that this program, 
the Religious Workers Program, has integrity. And we now have 100 
percent site visits for every church that applies, which we are advised 
informally by DHS, has really brought a much greater level of integrity 
to this system. And I think it's a product of the work that we did in 
the last Congress that helped us to be able to say that today.
  So I urge support of this measure.
  As for the reciprocity issue, I look forward to hearing the ranking 
member's proposals. I would just note, however, that because Russia is 
not very happy when we send evangelicals to their country, it doesn't 
mean that we should deny Russian Orthodox believers in the United 
States the assistance of Russian Orthodox member laypeople. I think 
that we'll work through these issues. This is an important step 
forward. And I urge its support.
  Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, the House's consideration of H.R. 1127, 
legislation to extend certain visas for religious workers and doctors 
serving in underserved areas highlights our broken immigration and visa 
system.
  While R-1 visas and the Conrad 30 J waivers are noble programs there 
are many small businesses in my congressional district that face 
critical shortages of workers because Congress has failed to address 
the H-2B temporary worker visa program.
  Without prompt action by Congress to extend H-2B visa cap relief, 
employers who rely on temporary and seasonal employees face severe 
worker shortages and the looming possibility of business closures in 
2009.
  Workers with H-2B visas provide necessary labor for the seafood, 
tourism, hospitality, and landscape industries, as well as many other 
temporary and non-agricultural jobs in this country. Due to the 
seasonal nature of the work and the structure of the cap, employers 
often face uncertainty and employment shortages during their busiest 
season.
  I urge you to take action to quickly pass the Save Our Small and 
Seasonal Business Act of 2009. H.R. 1136 would address this important 
issue impacting many businesses in my district and across the country. 
Your leadership in this matter is critical in assuring that small and 
seasonal business will be able to successfully navigate the challenging 
times facing our economy.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
this bill reauthorizing two very important programs, the Non-Minister 
Religious Worker Program and the Program for Doctors Serving in 
Underserved Areas Program. I urge my colleagues to support this 
important bill that reauthorizes these much needed and much utilized 
programs.
  ``The Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Visa Program.'' 
The participants under this program have come under closer scrutiny as 
investigations have determined that the participants were engaging in 
fraud. The religious worker visa program allows U.S. religious 
denominations to fill critical religious worker positions for which 
there are no qualified candidates in the U.S. with qualified religious 
workers abroad. The program provides for two types of visas. The one is 
a special immigrant visa, which allows qualified religious workers to 
immigrate to the U.S. permanently and later become citizens if they so 
choose and meet the qualification. The other is the non-immigrant visa, 
which allows qualified religious workers to enter temporarily and 
perform services in the U.S. for a proscribed period. Both of these 
visas may be granted to both ministers and non-minister religious 
workers.
  This bill extends the program but does not provide for it to be in 
place permanently. I think that this bill is much needed and I urge my 
colleagues to support it.
  The second program extended under this bill is the special program 
for doctors serving underserved communities. The Immigration and 
Nationality Act allows for foreign doctors to train in the United 
States under the ``J-1'' visa program, otherwise known as non-
immigrants in the ``Exchange Visitor Program.'' This Exchange Visitor 
Program seeks to promote peaceful relations and mutual understanding 
with other countries through educational and cultural exchange 
programs. Accordingly, many exchange visitors, including doctors in 
training, are subject to a requirement that they must return to their 
home country to share with their countrymen the knowledge, experience, 
and impressions gained during their stay in the United States. Unless 
USCIS approves a waiver of this requirement in those cases, the 
exchange visitors must depart from the United States and live in their 
home country for two years before they are allowed to apply for an 
immigrant visa, permanent residence, or a new nonimmigrant status.
  A waiver of the two year foreign residency requirement is available 
for doctors who have trained in the United States under the J-1 visa if 
a state or an interested federal agency sponsors the physician exchange 
visitor to work in a health manpower shortage area within the state for 
3 years as a non-immigrant in H-1B status (temporary worker in 
specialty occupation). The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
determines which areas have a health manpower shortage.
  This bill would extend this waiver to ensure that areas in the United 
States with a shortage of doctors have an option to hire a doctor with 
a J-1 visa for three years where there is no other doctor available to 
fill the job.
  As the immigrant doctors are getting a benefit so too should 
underserved Americans. In the underlying bill, I am pleased that my 
language was included. Specifically my language ensured that the 
underserved would indeed be served. My language provided:

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) Federal programs waiving the 2-year foreign residence 
     requirement under section 212(e) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(e)) for physicians are 
     generally designed to promote the delivery of critically 
     needed medical services to people in the United States 
     lacking adequate access to physician care; and
       (2) when determining the qualification of a location for 
     designation as a health professional shortage area, the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services should consider the 
     needs of vulnerable populations in low-income and 
     impoverished communities, communities with high infant 
     mortality rates, and communities exhibiting other signs of a 
     lack of necessary physician services.

  This language was included in the bill. I will continue to work with 
Congresswoman Lofgren and the Immigration Subcommittee to ensure that 
this happens.
  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to 
H.R. 1127. I oppose this legislation, not due to a lack of merit, but 
because many members of this body have sought relief for an equally 
vital visa issue--the H-2B Visa program.
  The H-2B Visa program was designed to provide access to nonimmigrant, 
temporary workers for seasonal needs when no American workers can be 
found. These foreign workers offer short-term assistance and return to 
their home country at the end of their season. H-2B visas are capped at 
66,000 per year. This still does not meet the needs for small 
businesses. In fact, the 2009 cap was met within the first week of 
January.
  I have previously called upon the leadership of the Congress to 
address this urgent need in districts like mine across the country. To 
the detriment of so many of the small businesses that are the engine of 
our economy, this issue is ensnarled in the broader immigration debate 
and no action has been taken to date.
  In the absence of such a consensus, I respectfully oppose this bill 
and ask my colleagues to join me in supporting and calling

[[Page 6385]]

for a vote on H.R. 1136, the ``Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses 
Act,'' introduced by my friend from Michigan, Mr. Stupak.
  During these difficult economic times, we cannot leave our small 
businesses with few options and even fewer workers.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1127.
  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.

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