[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12680-12682]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               NON-IMMIGRANT NURSES VISA REAUTHORIZATION

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 1933) to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to 
modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health 
professional shortage areas, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1933

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

     SECTION 1. REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION OF NONIMMIGRANT NURSES 
                   IN HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE AREAS.

       (a) Extension of Period of Authorized Admission.--Section 
     212(m)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1182(m)(3)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(3) The initial period of authorized admission as a 
     nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) shall be 3 
     years, and may be extended once for an additional 3-year 
     period.''.
       (b) Number of Visas.--Section 212(m)(4) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(m)(4)) is amended by 
     striking ``500.'' and inserting ``300.''.
       (c) Portability.--Section 214(n) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(n)) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following:
       ``(3)(A) A nonimmigrant alien described in subparagraph (B) 
     who was previously issued a visa or otherwise provided 
     nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) is 
     authorized to accept new employment performing services as a 
     registered nurse for a facility described in section 
     212(m)(6) upon the filing by the prospective employer of a 
     new petition on behalf of such nonimmigrant as provided under 
     subsection (c). Employment authorization shall continue for 
     such alien until the new petition is adjudicated. If the new 
     petition is denied, such authorization shall cease.
       ``(B) A nonimmigrant alien described in this paragraph is a 
     nonimmigrant alien--
       ``(i) who has been lawfully admitted into the United 
     States;
       ``(ii) on whose behalf an employer has filed a nonfrivolous 
     petition for new employment before the date of expiration of 
     the period of stay authorized by the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security, except that, if a nonimmigrant described in section 
     101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) is terminated or laid off by the 
     nonimmigrant's employer, or otherwise ceases employment with 
     the employer, such petition for new employment shall be filed 
     during the 45-day period beginning on the date of such 
     termination, lay off, or cessation; and
       ``(iii) who, subsequent to such lawful admission, has not 
     been employed without authorization in the United States 
     before the filing of such petition.''.
       (d) Applicability.--
       (1) In general.--During the 3-year period beginning on the 
     commencement date described in paragraph (2), the amendments 
     made by section 2 of the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged 
     Areas Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-95), and the amendments 
     made by this section, shall apply to classification petitions 
     filed for nonimmigrant status. This period shall be in 
     addition to the period described in section 2(e) of the 
     Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999.
       (2) Commencement date.--Not later than 60 days after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security shall determine whether regulations are necessary to 
     implement the amendments made by this section. If the 
     Secretary determines that no such regulations are necessary, 
     the commencement date described in this paragraph shall be 
     the date of such determination. If the Secretary determines 
     that regulations are necessary to implement any amendment 
     made by this section, the commencement date described in this 
     paragraph shall be the date on which such regulations (in 
     final form) take effect.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 
5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 1933, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I offer this legislation on behalf of myself and 
Representatives Cuellar, Hinojosa, Roskam, and Rush.
  A number of American hospitals have great difficulty attracting 
nurses.

[[Page 12681]]

These include hospitals that serve mostly poor patients in inner-city 
neighborhoods and some hospitals in rural areas. For example, St. 
Bernard Hospital in Chicago is the only remaining hospital in an area 
of over 100,000 people and almost all of its patients live in poverty. 
St. Bernard almost closed its doors in 1992 primarily because of its 
inability to attract registered nurses.
  Congress passed the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act in 
1999 to help hospitals like St. Bernard. It created a new H-1C 
temporary registered nurse visa program with 500 visas available each 
year that allowed nurses to stay for 3 years.
  To be able to petition for a foreign nurse, an employer had to meet 
four conditions. First, the employer had to be located in a health 
professional shortage area; second, the employer had to have at least 
190 acute care beds; third, a certain percentage of the employer's 
patients had to be Medicare patients; and fourth, a certain percentage 
of patients had to be Medicaid patients.
  The H-1C program adopted the protections for American nurses 
contained in the expired H-1A nursing visa program. For instance, a 
hospital had to agree to take timely and significant steps to recruit 
American nurses. Also, hospitals had to pay the prevailing wage.
  The H-1C program contained new protections such as requirements that 
foreign nurses could not comprise more than one-third of a hospital's 
registered nurses. The H-1C program was extended in 2006 but expired in 
December of 2009, though many nurses still remain on 3-year visas 
issued before that date.
  Sister Elizabeth Van Straten, president of St. Bernard Hospital, 
wrote to me last December that ``because of the sunset, in combination 
with the extended approval period for green cards, nurses are now 
forced to leave our institution, and the rate of loss continues to 
increase. This loss cannot be sustained. As the only hospital serving 
one of the most difficult sections of Chicago, and perhaps the entire 
country, we need the extension of the visa program to survive.''
  I introduced H.R. 1933 to help St. Bernard and other, similar 
hospitals. The bill reauthorizes the H-1C program for another 3 years. 
The number of visas that may be issued in each fiscal year cannot 
exceed 300. An alien may be admitted for 3 years, and this stay may be 
extended once for an additional 3 years.
  The H-1C program ensures continued care for patients in inner-city 
and rural communities. I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I will not repeat the information provided by Chairman Smith. I will 
simply state that the H-1C program was first created in 1999 to address 
shortages in both rural and inner-city hospitals. The 500 visas per 
year actually only go to 14 hospitals in the United States spread out 
across America. And of course the program has now expired.
  As Chairman Smith has indicated, this bill would reauthorize but 
reduce the number from 500 to 300, create certain other protections as 
mentioned by the chairman, and allow the maximum stay to go to 6 years. 
Because the bill would double the duration of H-1C status, I offered an 
amendment in committee, which was accepted by all, to make the H-1C 
visas portable among the 14 hospitals authorized to employ H-1C nurses. 
Right now, the nurses are entirely dependent on their employers to 
provide them their immigration status, and visa portability would level 
the playing field and allow a nurse to switch employers if something 
was wrong.
  I appreciate the Chairman's willingness to accept that, and I thank 
the chairman for introducing this bill and working with me to ensure 
that H-1C nurses are better protected against exploitive situations.
  I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 
1933--To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the 
requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health 
professional shortage areas.
  A number of hospitals with unique circumstances experience a great 
difficulty in attracting American nurses. Hospitals serving mostly poor 
patients have special difficulties. Some hospitals in rural areas do 
also. For example: St. Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center is 
located on the South side of Chicago in the Englewood Community. It is 
the only remaining hospital in an area with a census in excess of 
100,000 and the patient base is almost entirely poverty care or charity 
care. St. Bernard almost closed its doors in 1992, primarily because of 
its inability to attract health care professionals, most importantly 
registered nurses.
  H.R. 1933 reauthorizes the program for an additional three years. The 
number of visas that may be issued in each fiscal year cannot exceed 
300. An alien may be admitted for three years and this stay may be 
extended once for an additional three years (the possibility of an 
extension is new with H.R. 1933). Furthermore, H.R. 1933 allows an H-1C 
nurse to be able to switch employment between any of the 14 H-1C-
eligible hospitals. This prevents those nurses here through this 
program to have some flexibility in their employment options in the 
event they run into any hardship at the hospital where they are 
employed.
  The Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act, signed into law in 
1999 created a new H-1C temporary visa program for registered nurses. 
The program was modeled after the expired H-1A temporary nursing visa 
program but limited the number of visas that could be issued to 500 a 
year and only allowed in-need hospitals who met certain criteria to 
petition for alien nurses. To be able to petition for an alien, an 
employer had to meet four basic conditions. First, the employer must 
have been located in a health professional shortage area as designated 
by the Department of Health and Human Services. Second, the employer 
must have had at least 190 acute care beds. Third, a certain percentage 
(35 percent) of the employer's patients must have been Medicare 
patients. Fourth, a certain percentage (28 percent) of patients must 
have been Medicaid patients.
  Employers had to make certain attestations pertaining to payment of a 
wage which will not adversely affect wages and working conditions of 
similarly employed registered nurses; payment of wages to aliens at 
rates paid to other registered nurses similarly employed by the 
facility; taking timely and significant steps designed to recruit and 
retain U.S. nurses in order to reduce dependence on nonimmigrant 
nurses; absence of a strike/lockout or lay off of nurses; notice to 
workers of its intent to petition for H-1C nurses; percentages of H-1C 
nurses to be employed at the facility; and placement of H-1C nurses 
within the facility.
  This is a common sense employment-based immigration program that 
fills a desperate need in some of our nation's neediest hospitals. This 
program if very limited in who is admitted to work in this country, but 
fulfills a gap in our healthcare system.
  The Department of Labor has determined that the following hospitals 
are eligible for the program, some of which are located in Texas: 
Beaumont Regional Medical Center, Beaumont, TX; Beverly Hospital, 
Montebello, CA; Doctors Medical Center, Modesto, CA; Elizabeth General 
Medical Center, Elizabeth, NJ; Fairview Park Hospital, Dublin, GA; 
Lutheran Medical Center, St. Louis, MO; McAllen Medical Center, 
McAllen, TX; Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, MD; Mercy Regional 
Medical Center, Laredo, TX; Peninsula Hospital Center, Far Rockaway, 
NY; Southeastern Regional Medical Center, Lumberton, NC; Southwest 
General Hospital, San Antonio, TX; St. Bernard Hospital, Chicago, IL; 
and Valley Baptist Medical Center, Harlingen, TX.
  The Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999 was enacted as 
a four-year program (beginning on the effective date of implementing 
regulations) on November 12, 1999. The program expired in 2005 and was 
reauthorized in 2006 for an additional three years. The program expired 
in December of 2009 (but some H-1C nurses remain who received approval 
for three-year stays before this date). The Department of Labor reports 
that 499 nurses received visas under the program in fiscal year 2007 as 
did 110 in fiscal year 2008.
  I urge all Members to join me in supporting passage of this landmark 
legislation.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 1933, as amended.
  The question was taken.

[[Page 12682]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

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