Speech #1010090087

Today. we are considering legislation that. first. permits certain nonimmigrant nurses and accompanying spouses and children to obtain permanent resident status without reference to numerical limitations and. second. establisheswith a 5year sunseta new nonimmigrant classification for foreign nurses. Congress. in my view. should enact legislation that makes it possible for foreign nurses currently in the United States to continue to perform nursing services in this country. H.R. 3259 is designed to accomplish that objective by offering permanent resident status to foreign nurses outside of the normal immigration processes. However. I believe that there is another approach that is better tailored to achieve the purposes of this legislationand would do so without either undermining important immigration law principles or creating inequities in our treatment of various groups. The preferable approach. in my view. is to extend periods of nonimmigrant status until nurses can qualify to immigrate under the third or sixth preferences without circumventing existing waiting lists. The conferral of permanent resident status on certain nurses without reference to positions on existing waiting lists sets an unfortunate precedent. We do not want to provide a magnet to others to abuse nonimmigrant status in the expectation that they too can qualify for some future legislation. We also must treat fairly individuals who have waited to immigrate for many years outside the United States. Bypassing waiting lists and moving certain nonimmigrants ahead of the line is inequitable to others who have been waiting in their home countriesrelying on the provisions of existing law. As a practical matter. there is no assurance that an individual granted permanent resident status will remain in a particular profession. The goal of encouraging the continued performance of nursing services is not enhanced by conferring permanent resident status on this group prematurely. An extension of temporary stay. on the other hand. provides greater assurance of the nursing help our hospitals needbecause temporary status can be conditioned on continued service as a nurse. We should keep in mind that the Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Law has already held hearings on legal immigration. Proposals for a new category of independent immigrants. if enacted. may substantially increase the migration opportunities for individuals who do not have close relatives in the United States. The fact that we are examining the major issues of legal immigration appears to justify avoiding action which singles out a particular occupational group for special access to permanent resident status. H.R. 3259 also imposes added requirements for nurses to qualify for nonimmigrant status during a future 5year period. The version of this provision presented today incorporates an improvement over the corresponding provision in the original version of the bill.