Speech #1100148713

Act." introduced by my distinguished colleague from California. Representative BERMAN. This important legislation amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow for the expedited adjudication of an employer petition for an alien of extraordinary artistic ability. an alien accompanying such alien. or an alien who is an athlete or entertainer. Mr. Speaker. to paraphrase President John F. Kennedy. the true greatness of a nation can be measured by its accomplishments in the domain of the arts and culture. America has always benefited from the free flow of foreign artistic talent. some of which has served this country with great distinction. to mention but the late great cellist and Soviet dissident Mstislav "Slava" Rostropovich. Our immigration system is an important gateway for artists and musicians from abroad and as such it should serve the broader cultural goals of our Nation. Mr. Speaker. by inviting foreign artists to perform. arts organizations in the United States provide American audiences the opportunity to experience a variety of artistic talent and encourage a supportive climate for American artists to perform abroad. In the last several years. nonprofit arts organizations have confronted dramatic delays and uncertainties in the processing of visa petitions for foreign guest artists. These delays not only impact the immediate availability of foreign artists to perform alongside American artists. but also threaten to impede the ability of U.S. artists to perform abroad. When a nonprofit arts organization invites a foreign performer. or an entire symphony for that matter. the organization must calendar. advertise. and ticket performances far in advance. all on reliance that they will successfully petition for a visa for their guest performer. In the last several years. delays in processing have led many smaller arts organizations to stop engaging foreign artists altogether because they cannot risk the potential expense of canceling a performance as a result of slow visa processing. Those organizations that have persevered have seen increasingly frequent situations in which performances involving foreign guest artists must be cancelled because the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services. USCIS. cannot process visa petitions within a 6month period before the performance. This is an issue not only for the arts organizations bringing in a foreign artists. but also American artists who are slated to be part of these performances. as well as all of the support staff employed by the organizations as a result of a performance. Most nonprofit arts organizations cannot afford the current $1.000 fee for premium processing. a program that was adopted primarily at the request of forprofit corporations. Yet. regular visa processing can now take up to 180 daystoo long for arts organizations to accommodate. These delays in the visa process can harm nonprofit institutions and the local economies in which they exist. Since 2003. a bipartisan group of Members has urged USCIS to remedy this problem administratively. In October of that year. 16 members sent a letter to the USCIS Director encouraging him to implement a number of reforms including reducing processing for 0 and P petitions filed by or on behalf of nonprofit organizations to 30 days or automatically remove those petitions to premium processing at no additional fee. To date. these reforms have not been made administratively. and in discussions. USCIS has represented that they are not certain they could make such changes without legislative action.