Speech #1020086094

President. I am pleased to join Senators KENNEDY. SIMPSON. and SIMON. the members of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs. in introducing legislation to address concerns about the provision in the Immigration Act of 1990. Public Law 101649. regarding the new nonimmigrant visa categoriesO and P visas--for artists. athletes. and entertainers. Congress recognizes that this new law contains some flaws that need to be corrected. For this reason. the Senate adopted legislation to delay implementation of this provision from October 1. 1991. to April 1. 1992. This 6month delay will give us time to enact the remedial legislation we are introducing today. In the interim. those persons seeking admission to this country as artists. athletes. entertainers. or fashion models. shall be admitted by the Attorney General under current lawH visas. I want to commend my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee. the arts community and labor unions for their tireless efforts to reach a compromise on this issue. Among other things. this bipartisan bill does the following: Repeals the arbitrary 25.000 yearly limit on nonimmigrant 0 and P visas. requires the General Accounting Office (GAO] to conduct a 2year investigation regarding the usage of 0 and P visas. their impact on our labor force and what barriers. if any. U.S. citizens with the same occupations encounter in their efforts to seek similar employment abroad. amends the rigid requirement that all individuals applying for P1 visas be affiliated with an institution or performing group for more than a year by only requiring that the group itself and 75 percent of its performers or entertainers be together for at least a year. clarifies the consultation requirement. including a 15day limit for a union or collective bargaining unit to submit a written advisory opinion. or comment. or letter of no objection in response to an appropriate inquiry by the Attorney General. and eliminates the 3month outofcountry rule for P2 and P3 nonimmigrants. I believe these modifications to the Immigration Act of 1990 will encourage rather than discourage international artistic and cultural exchanges between our country and the rest of the world. At this point. I would like to list the artistic and labor groups who worked on this compromise bill with the Immigration and Refugee Affairs Subcommittee. Participants from the arts community included: The American Arts Alliance. the American Symphony Orchestra League. the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. Columbia Artist Management Inc..