Precountry new narkal limitation for employmentbased immigrants to increase the per country numerical limitation for familysponsored immigrants, and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california,s. Colorado, mr. Buck, will each control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. Mrs. Love gren i ask unanimous consent that address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Lofgren i yield myself such time as i may consume. Mr. Speaker, i rise today in support of h. R. 1044, the fairness for high schooled immigrants act, a bipartisan bill that would make a modest but important change to our immigration laws to alleviate hardships associated with lengthy visa backlogs. Let me begin by explaining what this bill does do and does not do. H. R. 1044 does not increase the overall number of immigrant visas that are available each year. Although raising the ceiling on visas is the only viable way to eliminate backlogs, there is in my view, unfortunately, no consensus on that issue at this time. But there is broad consensus that we should do what we can to make the system more equitable. This is the focus of h. R. 1044. By eliminating the per country limit on employmentbased visas, all immigrant visa applicants will eventually be restored to a level playing field, where ones country of nationality has no bearing on their place in line. Under our immigration laws, employmentbased visas are granted to individuals under a fivetiered preference system. The first three categories are reserved for priority workers, individuals with advanced degrees, and other professionals and skilled workers. To be eligible for a visa under one of these categories, the applicant must generally have an offer of employment from a u. S. Employer and must submit extensive documentation of their qualifications for the job and the relevant preference category. The applicants country of birth is not a factor, and rightfully so. What does a persons nationality have to do with their merit as an employee . However, country of birth does become relevant after the applicant has qualified for a visa and is waiting in line for a visa number. The socalled per country limit prohibits any one country from receiving more than 7 of the immigrant visas that are available each year. Because of this, the visa backlog has thus high demand for visas such as india. As a result, it can now take a decade or more for an indian physician working in a medically underserved area or a physicist with a ph. D. From m. I. T. To receive a green card. How is this good for our country . Our immigration system is in desperate need of reform. We all know too well the plight of dreamers and the undocumented population. We know now more than ever that our agriculture sector, which relies heavily on immigrant workers, is struggling to satisfy its labor needs and provide a safe domestic food supply. Were reminded daily of the concern we have of the situation unfolding at the border. On top of these very real and serious issues, we also remain inextricably bound by the imperfections of an immigration framework that was formulated nearly 30 years ago and is out of touch with the needs of the 21st century. Major reforms are required to truly fix our outdated legal system, but as we all know, each such reforms have been hard to come by for a long time. If we want to get anything done, if we want to do whats right for our country, we have to find Common Ground and we have to compromise on an issue as contentious as Immigration Reform, working in a fully bipartisan fashion can only result in legislation that will go nowhere in the senate. H. R. 1044 is one of those rare proposals where we can agree. 1044 has strong bipartisan support with more than 200 democratic and more than 100 republican cosponsors. In 2011, the house passed a version of this bill by a margin of 38915. I urge all of my colleagues to once again vote in favor of this bill, and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado. Thank you, mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to speak on this important legislation, the fairness for highskilled immigrants act. I want to thank my colleague, the distinguished chairwoman from california, ms. Lofgren. Ive appreciated working with you to make a meaningful change that will make our employmentbased immigration system into an equitable system, one that is based on merit, not where you are born. Mr. Buck i want to tell you why this bill has a special place in my heart. Two years ago as i was traveling through my district i met with a group of individuals who were here legally but felt they were being put at a disadvantaged by our nations immigration policies. They were resolute that i and congress, more broadly, could change their futures for the better. As we sat together, my new friends shared their stories of coming to the United States with a great sense of hope. They came here for any number of reasons, but every Single Person arrived seeking a new opportunity to succeed and realize their own american dream. During our conversation, we talked about a bill but what we were really discussing is these individuals hopes and dreams for a future that is bite brighter because of this legislation. Our immigration policies are leaving these people stuck between a rock and hard place. They made up the difficult decision pock packing up and leaving to work in the greatest country of the world but know these same people found themselves cut in a decades long backlog to receive a green card, waiting to open their businesses creating jobs. There are approximately 1. 5 million highskilled immigrants living in the United States on an employmentbased visa. Theyre working hard and paying their taxes, yet, face decades long wait, sometimes up to 70 years to receive a green card. Worst of all, congress created this state of limbo by instituting an arbitrary annual cap on the number of individuals who may receive a green card from any single country. This system doesnt make sense. Our employmentbased immigration system has a single purpose bringing in the best and brightest. We shouldnt hamstring our economy by placing artificial caps on who can get a green card quicker based solely on where youre born. As the Cato Institute and National Reviewpointed out, we arent considering the countries sorry we are considering the countries have different population sizes. India has a population 2 1 2 times greater than the European Union but has an employmentbased green card cap thats 4 of the European Unions cap. This policy is not helping to develop our highskilled economy. Additionally, the department of labors own statistics show they are depressing the average wage for employer sponsored immigrants by 11,500. These depressing wages are hurting American Workers and hindering further economic growth. We shouldnt be punishing highly skilled individuals who come to this country legally. People who do everything the right way and are only seeking an opportunity to work hard contribute to the u. S. Economy and support their families. We should be celebrating this and helping to create an equitable system that benefits both u. S. Companies and employmentbased visa holders. Im happy to say thats exactly what this bill does. The fairness for high skilled immigrants act creates an equitable system that eliminates the arbitrary per country caps on employerbased green cards and replaces it with a first come first serve system. This important change will free u. S. Companies to focus on what they do best hiring smart people to create products, services, and jobs in our districts while ensuring all employmentbased visa applicants are evaluated on their merit, not where they come from. Mr. Speaker, its Time Congress fixes this policy once and for all. 70year backlogs are only going to dissuade talented individuals from coming to the United States and further hamper our economy. We need to create an equitable system that helps our businesses and is fair to the individuals who came here looking to achieve their own dream. To live and work in the greatest country in the world. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and the back legislation, end the back logs and make our system first come, first serve, not based on where youre born. Thank you, and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I would be happy to yield to the gentleman from california, my colleague, congressman khanna, two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Khanna thank you, mr. Speaker. I want to thank my good friend and esteemed chair of the judiciary subcommittee on immigration for moving this bill to the floor, representative lofgren has worked tirelessly for years to get us to this point. Im proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill. Put simply, this bill is good for American Workers and its good for the american economy. For too long people in this country have been unable to get a green card simply based on where they were born. As a result, people have been stuck on visas and we all know that foreign outsourcing firms have abused these visas. They are underpaying, people are stuck on these visas and its depressing american wages and its hurting American Workers. The solution is to stop corporations from abusing the visa system and to move people on to green cards. Once we do that, american wages will go up. These companies will no longer be able to hold people in indentured servitude and force American Workers to have cuts in their wages. So, anyone who is for american rkers, who believes that the h1vb visa program is being abused, who wants to stand up for a path for American Workers to get the wages they deserve should be for this bill. If you oppose this bill, youre actually supporting the abuse of the visa process. I want to thank again representative lofgren for her leadership and i yield back the balance of my time. Ms. Lofgren i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from colorado is recognized. Mr. Buck thank you, mr. Speaker. I recognize for two minutes my friend from utah, mr. Curtis. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Curtis mr. Speaker, im proud to rise in strong support for this act. In recent years utah has witnessed incredible growth in our tech and innovation sector. Bringing thousands of jobs and strengthening our economy. However, everywhere i go i hear from Business Leaders that they do not have enough highskilled workers. Even as we work to strengthen Stem Education and bolster the number of homegrown engineers and programmers, the demand continues to outstrip the supply. Current limitations in our immigration system are forcing talented engineers who have trained in our universities to remain on temporary visas or leave entirely for competing countries, while important jobs go unfulfilled back home and Economic Opportunities are lost. This legislation will create a first come, first serve system, providing certain toy workers and families certainty to workers and families and enabling companies to flourish and compete in a Global Economy as they hire the brightest people to create products, services, jobs, regardless of where they were born. As these companies expand, operations with greater input from highskilled workers, they create countless more american jobs. Mr. Speaker, with the debate around our broken immigration system growing increasingly challenging in recent years, ive been thrilled to see this bipartisan groundswell of support around this effort. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. I yield my time. Mr. Buck i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from colorado reserves. The gentlelady from california is recognized. Ms. Lofgren mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. Krishnamoorthi. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Krishnamoorthi mr. Speaker, i rise today in strong support of h. R. 1044, the fairness for highskilled immigrants act. Im proud to be an original cosponsor of this Bipartisan Legislation with over 300 cosponsors. I want to thank chairwoman lofgren for her excellent leadership on this legislation, which will end discrimination based on National Origin in our employmentbased immigration system and strengthen our economy. Our Current System limits the number of employmentbased green cards to 7 per country. Regardless of population. As a result, highskilled workers from certain countries face backlogs of upwards of 70 years, while applicants from other countries go to the front of the line. Thats not fair. This legislation ensures that all highskilled visa applicants have an equal opportunity to contribute to American Economic development, regardless of their country of birth. Many highly educated and highskilled workers who come to this country on temporary visas in the Tech Industry and other sectors raise their children here, are a part of our communities, pay their taxes, and want the opportunity to become lawful permanent residents. This legislation helps keep Families Together and it helps american businesses retain top talent, growing and making them more prosperous. Mr. Speaker, it is long overdue that we end the discriminatory percountry cap on employmentbased visas. I urge my colleagues to support this Bipartisan Legislation, i absolute the bipartisan cooperation salute the bipartisan cooperation between chairwoman lofgren and congressman buck, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from colorado is recognized. Mr. Buck thank you, mr. Speaker. I recognize my friend, mr. Collins, and the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, for four minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes . Four minutes, im sorry. Mr. Collins thank you. I appreciate the gentleman from colorado and also the gentlelady from california. Mr. Speaker, i rise today and im in reluctant opposition to h. R. 1044. This is not something i would like to be. But this bill could be better. In fact, its not going to do what it said it will do. And that is a problem. Current law states that nationals of one country can serve more than 7 of an employmentbased green card allotted each year. H. R. 1044 removes the 7 cap, effectively moving the employmentbased green card categories to a first come, First Service basis. Ok. Thats fine. The bill also raises the current annual cap on familybased green cards to 15 . Ok. But to be clear, i agree with the concept of eliminating the percountry cap. I think there should not have been a cap from the onset of this. But congress did not place the limit on green card issuance, as a result theres been an extremely large backlog of nationals from certain countries who have approved green card petitions but whose green card is not available and will not be for several years. So i understand the desire of many, including the distinguished lady from california, who i have Great Respect for in this field, and also my Ranking Member, and many others who have signed onto this bill. But i believe many people who signed on to this bill signed on to a bill that would actually be put together and actually be able to work. They did not sign on a statement bill that will not be title of the bill work and in which the agencies have already said they cant. Before anybody says that theres 300plus cosponsors, remember, this Congress Also took up a bill called ecba which had almost 400 cosponsors but still went through the process of actually being changed and marked up. Which is a distinct difference in this bill. So just because you have a lot of cosponsors doesnt mean always that its right and can still be perfected. In fact, its wrong to tell communities that this bill will help them when in actuality it wont. This is the problem i have. The bill was introduced in february, it was placed on a consensus calendar last month and now an suspension calendar today. Neither the subcommittee for this full committee had a hearing to look at this issue in this congress or any potential ramifications of the legislation. And the committee did not mark up this bill. So those of us who support the intent but have concerns about the factual text have no opportunity to formally hear from agencies affectd by this legislation or even outside groups and individuals affected. When my colleagues took over they promised regular order. This is not regular order. Especially with a bill of this importance. Lack of process is a big concern of mine. But even more troubling is the standard provisions of the bill and how they are not only ambiguous at times, but unworkable. I will give you some examples. Section 2e1 of the bill states that during implementation transportation period, visas should not be biven given to some that are not one of the two states with the largest aggregate numbers. What does that mean . How is the uscis supposed to interpret it . Does it mean the largest number from the time the green card were first issued or Something Else . I know that previous versions of this bill have tied such transition to specific fiscal year but the language here is ambiguous and is based on interpretation by the agencies that could have very different ramifications. In fact, the agencies have said they dont know how to interpret this. The agency who will be in charge of this said, we cant do this. That should ring true with every member in this body. More concerning, howev