II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2167 

To increase the employment of Americans by requiring State workforce agencies to certify that employers are actively recruiting Americans and 

that Americans are not qualified or available to fill the positions that 

the employer wants to fill with H–2B nonimmigrants. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2012 

Mr. MERKLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To increase the employment of Americans by requiring State 

workforce agencies to certify that employers are actively 

recruiting Americans and that Americans are not qualified or available to fill the positions that the employer 

wants to fill with H–2B nonimmigrants. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Jobs in 

5 American Forests Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2167 IS

1 (a) PROSPECTIVE H–2B EMPLOYER.—The term 

2 ‘‘prospective H–2B employer’’ means a United States 

3 business that is considering employing 1 or more non4 immigrants described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) of 

5 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

6 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b)). 

7 (b) STATE WORKFORCE AGENCY.—Except as used in 

8 section 3, the term ‘‘State workforce agency’’ means the 

9 workforce agency of the State in which the prospective H– 

10 2B employer intends to employ H–2B nonimmigrants. 

11 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. 

12 (a) RECRUITMENT.—As a component of the labor 

13 certification process required before H–2B nonimmigrants 

14 are offered employment in the United States, the Sec15 retary of Labor shall require all prospective H–2B employ16 ers, before they submit a petition to hire H–2B non17 immigrant workers, to conduct a robust effort to recruit 

18 United States workers, including— 

19 (1) advertising at employment or job-placement 

20 events, such as job fairs; 

21 (2) advertising with State or local workforce 

22 agencies, nonprofit organizations, or other appro23 priate entities, and working with such entities to 

24 identify potential employees; 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2167 IS

1 (3) advertising in appropriate media, including 

2 local radio stations and commonly used, reputable 

3 Internet job-search sites; and 

4 (4) such other recruitment strategies as the 

5 State workforce agency considers appropriate for the 

6 sector or positions for which H–2B nonimmigrants 

7 would be considered. 

8 (b) SEPARATE PETITIONS.—A prospective H–2B em9 ployer shall submit a separate petition for each State in 

10 which the employer plans to employ H–2B nonimmigrants 

11 for a period of 7 days or longer. 

12 SEC. 4. STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES. 

13 The Secretary of Labor may not grant a temporary 

14 labor certification to a prospective H–2B employer until 

15 after the Director of the State workforce agency— 

16 (1) has formally consulted with the workforce 

17 agency director of each contiguous State listed on 

18 the prospective H–2B employer’s application and de19 termined that— 

20 (A) the employer has complied with all re21 cruitment requirements set forth in section 3 

22 and there is a legitimate demand for the em23 ployment of H–2B nonimmigrants in each of 

24 those States; or 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2167 IS

1 (B) the employer has amended the applica2 tion by removing or making appropriate modi3 fications with respect to the States in which the 

4 criteria set forth in subparagraph (A) have not 

5 been met; 

6 (2) certifies that the prospective H–2B em7 ployer has complied with all recruitment require8 ments set forth in section 3 or any other applicable 

9 provision of law; and 

10 (3) makes a formal determination that nation11 als of the United States are not qualified or avail12 able to fill the employment opportunities offered by 

13 the prospective H–2B employer. 

Æ 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS