[House Report 110-697]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     110-697

======================================================================



 
                 RENEWAL OF NONIMMIGRANT ATHLETE VISAS

                                _______
                                

  June 5, 2008.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Conyers, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 5060]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 5060) to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to 
allow athletes admitted as nonimmigrants described in section 
101(a)(15)(P) of such Act to renew their period of authorized 
admission in 5-year increments, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 
the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     1
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     2
Committee Votes..................................................     2
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     2
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     2
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     3
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     4
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     4
Advisory on Earmarks.............................................     4
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     4
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     4

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 5060 amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to 
allow athletes admitted as nonimmigrants described in section 
101(a)(15)(P) of such Act to permit the Department of Homeland 
Security to continuously renew their period of authorized 
admission in 5-year increments.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    Currently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may 
grant foreign professional athletes P-1 nonimmigrant status for 
an initial 5-year period, with one possible extension of up to 
five additional years. Thereafter, in order to continue to work 
in the United States legally, the athlete must apply to become 
a lawful permanent resident of the United States, a process 
that may take several years depending on the athlete's country 
of birth.
    H.R. 5060 would amend section 214(a)(2)(B) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act to allow DHS to continuously 
grant extensions of P-1 status in 5-year increments for the 
duration of an athlete's career. Allowing DHS to use its 
discretion with respect to whether or not to grant these 
extensions, rather than imposing an arbitrary 10-year cap, will 
help ensure that foreign athletes in their prime performance 
years are allowed to continue working for United States teams. 
H.R. 5060 has been endorsed by Major and Minor League Baseball, 
the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey 
League, and all of the relevant players associations.

                                Hearings

    The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R. 
5060.

                        Committee Consideration

    On March 12, 2008, the Subcommittee on Immigration, 
Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law 
met in open session and ordered the bill, H.R. 5060, favorably 
reported, without amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being 
present. On April 2, 2008, the Committee met in open session 
and ordered the bill, H.R. 5060, favorably reported without 
amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.

                            Committee Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there 
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of 
H.R. 5060.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does 
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax 
expenditures.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with 
respect to the bill, H.R. 5060, the following estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                      Washington, DC, May 14, 2008.
Hon. John Conyers, Jr., Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5060, a bill to 
amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow athletes 
admitted as nonimmigrants described in section 101(a)(15)(P) of 
such Act to renew their period of authorized admission in 5-
year increments.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark 
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
            Sincerely,
                                           Peter R. Orszag,
                                                  Director.

Enclosure

cc:
        Honorable Lamar S. Smith.
        Ranking Member
H.R. 5060--A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow 
        athletes admitted as nonimmigrants described in section 
        101(a)(15)(P) of such Act to renew their period of authorized 
        admission in 5-year increments.
    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5060 would result in 
no significant cost to the Federal Government. The bill would 
affect direct spending, but we estimate that any effects would 
be insignificant. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. 
H.R. 5060 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Under current law, certain foreign professional athletes 
may be admitted as nonimmigrants for an initial period of up to 
5 years, plus one additional period of 5 years. H.R. 5060 would 
permit those athletes to apply for admission as nonimmigrants 
in 5-year increments beyond the maximum length of stay 
authorized by current law.
    Based on the number of athletes admitted in recent years 
and the relatively short careers of these individuals, CBO 
expects that the bill's provisions would affect fewer than 
1,000 persons annually. The Department of Homeland Security 
(DHS) would collect a fee of $320 to process applications filed 
by these individuals. These fees are classified as offsetting 
receipts (a credit against direct spending). The department is 
authorized to spend such fees without further appropriation, so 
the net impact on DHS spending would be insignificant for each 
year.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz, 
who may be reached at 226-2860. This estimate was approved by 
Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R. 
5060 amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow 
athletes admitted as nonimmigrants described in section 
101(a)(15)(P) of such Act to continuously renew their period of 
authorized admission in 5-year increments.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for 
this legislation in article I, section 8, clause 4 of the 
Constitution.

                          Advisory on Earmarks

    In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, H.R. 5060 does not contain any 
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    The following discussion describes the bill as reported by 
the Committee.
    Sec. 1. Period of Authorized Admission for Certain 
Nonimmigrant Athletes. Section 1 would amend section 
214(a)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow 
foreign athletes in P-1 nonimmigrant status to continuously 
extend their status in 5-year increments.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                  SECTION 214 OF THE IMMIGRATION AND 
                            NATIONALITY ACT

                       ADMISSION OF NONIMMIGRANTS

  Sec. 214. (a)(1) * * *
  (2)(A) * * *
  (B) The period of authorized status as a nonimmigrant 
described in section 101(a)(15)(P) shall be for such period as 
the Attorney General may specify in order to provide for the 
competition, event, or performance for which the nonimmigrant 
is admitted. In the case of nonimmigrants admitted as 
individual athletes under section 101(a)(15)(P), the period of 
authorized status may be for an initial period (not to exceed 5 
years) during which the nonimmigrant will perform as an athlete 
and such period may be extended by the Attorney General [for an 
additional period of up to 5 years.] in 5-year increments.

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