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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2167 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``American Jobs in American Forests 
Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
     (a) Prospective H-2B Employer.--The term ``prospective H-2B 
employer'' means a United States business that is considering employing 
1 or more nonimmigrants described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b)).
    (b) State Workforce Agency.--Except as used in section 3, the term 
``State workforce agency'' means the workforce agency of the State in 
which the prospective H-2B employer intends to employ H-2B 
nonimmigrants.

SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

    (a) Recruitment.--As a component of the labor certification process 
required before H-2B nonimmigrants are offered employment in the United 
States, the Secretary of Labor shall require all prospective H-2B 
employers, before they submit a petition to hire H-2B nonimmigrant 
workers, to conduct a robust effort to recruit United States workers, 
including--
            (1) advertising at employment or job-placement events, such 
        as job fairs;
            (2) advertising with State or local workforce agencies, 
        nonprofit organizations, or other appropriate entities, and 
        working with such entities to identify potential employees;
            (3) advertising in appropriate media, including local radio 
        stations and commonly used, reputable Internet job-search 
        sites; and
            (4) such other recruitment strategies as the State 
        workforce agency considers appropriate for the sector or 
        positions for which H-2B nonimmigrants would be considered.
    (b) Separate Petitions.--A prospective H-2B employer shall submit a 
separate petition for each State in which the employer plans to employ 
H-2B nonimmigrants for a period of 7 days or longer.

SEC. 4. STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES.

    The Secretary of Labor may not grant a temporary labor 
certification to a prospective H-2B employer until after the Director 
of the State workforce agency--
            (1) has formally consulted with the workforce agency 
        director of each contiguous State listed on the prospective H-
        2B employer's application and determined that--
                    (A) the employer has complied with all recruitment 
                requirements set forth in section 3 and there is a 
                legitimate demand for the employment of H-2B 
                nonimmigrants in each of those States; or
                    (B) the employer has amended the application by 
                removing or making appropriate modifications with 
                respect to the States in which the criteria set forth 
                in subparagraph (A) have not been met;
            (2) certifies that the prospective H-2B employer has 
        complied with all recruitment requirements set forth in section 
        3 or any other applicable provision of law; and
            (3) makes a formal determination that nationals of the 
        United States are not qualified or available to fill the 
        employment opportunities offered by the prospective H-2B 
        employer.
                                 <all>
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