Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and
wish to engage the gentleman from Texas, the chairman of the Armed
Services Committee, in a colloquy. Let me first start by thanking Chairman Thornberry, Ranking Member
Smith, and the committee staff for working diligently with us to
address the workforce issues impacting the military realignment on
Guam. The conference agreement includes a provision to remedy the H-2B visa
denial issue, particularly affecting construction projects on Guam, by
granting USCIS the authority to approve temporary workers for
construction work directly connected to or associated with the military
realignment occurring on Guam through 2023. Providing for this small, temporary workforce is very important,
given the strategic importance of Guam as the sole U.S. territory in
the western Pacific capable of basing significant joint force
capabilities and the reality that exceedingly few U.S. mainland workers
are willing to travel to Guam to perform this temporary work. My understanding is that the intent behind the inclusion of the
phrase ``associated with'' is to allow for approval of visas for
individuals performing work not only on military-funded facilities and
infrastructure, but also for civilian infrastructure projects outside
the gate, for example, infrastructure projects funded by the Federal
Government, the government of Guam, or nongovernmental sources that are
being done, in part, because of the increased number of military
personnel and military families moving to Guam. Is that the chairman's understanding of the intent behind the
provision?
Keywords matched
visa visas USCIS H-2B