Statements On Introduced Bills And Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

By Mr. DURBIN:

S. 3135. A bill to enhance global healthcare cooperation and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Global Healthcare Cooperation Act of 2010. This legislation takes measured but important steps to enhance global healthcare cooperation and help developing countries address public health challenges. The Global Healthcare Cooperation Act will bolster the ranks of healthcare workers serving in developing countries by enabling American legal permanent residents to assist with overseas public health emergencies, and by responsibly regulating the ``brain drain'' of skilled healthcare workers from underdeveloped countries to the U.S. I look forward to working with my colleagues to see these provisions enacted into law.

While many nations are currently experiencing shortages of healthcare personnel, the lack of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in the world's poorest nations is an urgent crisis. There are many factors contributing to this crisis, but the massive ``brain drain'' of trained healthcare workers from the poorest nations to the richest is a central cause. According to the World Health Organization, Africa loses 20,000 health professionals a year as part of this brain drain. In Ethiopia, for example, there are only 1,806 doctors serving a population of 80 million. By comparison, there are 5,074 doctors serving the 600,000 residents of Washington D.C., and 17,507 doctors serving the 5.3 million residents of Cook County in my home state of Illinois. The shortage of healthcare personnel is considered the single biggest obstacle to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. Healthcare worker shortages are particularly devastating when nations are confronted with natural disasters and other humanitarian crises, such as the recent Haiti earthquake.

I again saw this problem first hand during a trip to east Africa that I took last month with Senator SHERROD BROWN. In places such as Tanzania and Ethiopia the story was the same--in countries already in desperate need of health workers, many were instead leaving for work in other countries. Many are being recruited to work in the U.S. and in other wealthy nations.

We should do what we can here in the U.S. to make sure these talented health professionals are free to return temporarily to help in countries with urgent health needs without jeopardizing their immigration status. We should also ensure they have met all medical care obligations in their home countries that may have been tied to their health training.

The Global Healthcare Cooperation Act would take two steps to address these challenges. The first part of the bill would allow a healthcare worker who is a legal permanent resident in the U.S. to temporarily provide healthcare services in a country that is underdeveloped or that has suffered a disaster or public health emergency without jeopardizing his or her immigration status in the U.S. Specifically, the bill would allow legal permanent resident healthcare workers to work in qualifying countries for up to 36 months without running afoul of the continuous residency requirement for naturalization. This provision will allow immigrants in our country to lend their skills to overseas disaster relief and public health crises while still pursuing their dream of American citizenship.

The second part of this legislation would require a foreigner who is petitioning to work in the U.S. as a healthcare worker to attest that he or she has satisfied any outstanding obligation to his or her home country
under which the foreigner received money for medical training in return for a commitment to work in that country for a period of years. In exchange for financial support for their education or training, some foreign doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers have signed voluntary bonds or made promises to their governments to remain in their home countries or to return from their studies abroad and work in the healthcare profession. The bill provides that the petitioner must satisfy any outstanding obligation in order to be eligible for admission into the U.S., though the bill is flexible in allowing the petitioner to reach agreement with the home country in order to satisfy his or her commitment. The legislation provides a waiver in cases of coercion by the home country government or other extraordinary circumstances. The goal of this provision is to ensure that foreign countries do not invest money in healthcare workers who then renege on commitments to work in their country without satisfying their commitment.

The small but important steps contained within the Global Healthcare Cooperation Act will help save lives, and will demonstrate America's leadership in the effort to improve the health of people across the globe. The provisions in this legislation have previously passed the Senate twice, as part of the 2006 immigration reform bill and the 2007 Labor-HHS appropriations bill, but have not yet become law. I urge my colleagues to support the enactment of these important provisions.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD

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