Non-Immigrant Nurses Visa Reauthorization

Floor Speech

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.

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