I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 119
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to impose additional
conditions on employers of H–1B nonimmigrants.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 7, 1997
Mr. CONYERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to impose
additional conditions on employers of H–1B nonimmigrants.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting American
Workers Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. CHANGES RELATING TO H–1B NONIMMIGRANTS.
(a) ATTESTATIONS.—
(1) 
COMPENSATION
LEVEL.—Section
212(n)(1)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(1)(A)(i)) is amended—
(A) in subclause (I), by inserting ‘‘100 per-
cent of’’ before ‘‘the actual wage level’’,
(B) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘100
percent of’’ before ‘‘the prevailing wage level’’,
and
(C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘is
offering and will offer during such period the
same benefits and additional compensation pro-
vided to similarly-employed workers by the em-
ployer, and’’.
(2) DISPLACEMENT OF UNITED STATES WORK-
ERS.—Section 212(n)(1) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(1)) is amended
by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following
new subparagraph:
‘‘(E)(i) The employer—
‘‘(I) has not, within the six-month period
prior to the filing of the application, laid off or
otherwise displaced any United States worker
(as defined in clause (ii)), including any worker
obtained by contract, employee leasing, tem-
porary help agreement, or other similar basis,
in the occupational classification which is the
subject of the application and in which the non-
immigrant is intended to be (or is) employed;
and
‘‘(II) within 90 days following the applica-
tion, and within 90 days before and after the
filing of a petition for any H–1B worker pursu-
ant to that application, will not lay off or other-
wise displace any United States worker in the
occupational classification which is the subject
of the application and in which the non-
immigrant is intended to be (or is) employed.
‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the
term ‘United States worker’ means—
‘‘(I) a citizen or national of the United
States;
‘‘(II) an alien lawfully admitted to the
United States for permanent residence; and
‘‘(III) an alien authorized to be so em-
ployed by this Act or by the Attorney General.
‘‘(iii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the
term ‘laid off’, with respect to an employee, means
the employee’s loss of employment, other than a dis-
charge for cause or a voluntary departure or vol-
untary retirement.’’.
‘‘(E) The provisions of this paragraph shall apply to
complaints respecting a failure of another employer to
comply with an attestation described in paragraph (1),
that has been made as the result of the requirement im-
posed on job contractors under paragraph (1)(H), in the
same manner that they apply to complaints of a petitioner
with respect to a failure to comply with a condition de-
scribed in paragraph (1) by employers generally.’’.
(b) SPECIAL RULES FOR EMPLOYERS DEPENDENT
ON H–1B WORKERS.—Section 212(n) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)) is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(3)(A) No alien may be admitted or provided status
as 
a 
nonimmigrant 
described 
in 
section
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) if the employer who is seeking the
services of such alien has attested under paragraph (1)(G)
that the employer is dependent on H–1B workers unless
the following conditions are met:
‘‘(i) The Secretary of Labor has determined
and certified to the Secretary of State and the At-
torney General that the employer who is seeking the
services of such alien is taking steps described in
subparagraph (C) (including having taken the step
described in subparagraph (D)).
‘‘(ii) The alien has demonstrated to the satis-
faction of the Secretary of State and the Attorney
General that the alien has a residence abroad which
he has no intention of abandoning.
‘‘(B)(i) It is unlawful for a petitioning employer to
require, as a condition of employment by such employer,
or otherwise, that a payment to a fund described in sub-
paragraph (D)(i), or any part of it, be made directly or
indirectly by the alien whose services are being sought.
‘‘(ii) Any person or entity which is determined, after
notice and opportunity for an administrative hearing, to
have violated clause (i) shall be subject to a civil penalty
of $5,000 for each violation and to disqualification for 1
year from petitioning under section 204 or 214(c).
‘‘(iii) Any amount determined to have been paid, di-
rectly or indirectly, to a fund described in subparagraph
(D)(i) by the alien whose services were sought, shall be
repaid from the fund or by the employer, as appropriate,
to such alien.
‘‘(C)(i) An employer who attests under paragraph
(1)(G) to dependence on H–1B workers shall take timely,
significant, and effective steps (including the step de-
scribed in subparagraph (D)) to recruit and retain suffi-
cient United States workers in order to remove as quickly
as reasonably possible the dependence of the employer on
H–1B workers.
‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i), steps under clause
(i) (in addition to the step described in subparagraph (D))
may include the following:
‘‘(I) Operating a program of training existing
employees who are United States workers in the
skills needed by the employer, or financing (or other-
wise providing for) such employees’ participation in
such a training program elsewhere.
‘‘(II) Providing career development programs
and other methods of facilitating United States
workers in related fields to acquire the skills needed
by the employer.
‘‘(III) Paying to employees who are United
States workers compensation that is equal in value
to more than 105 percent of what is paid to persons
similarly employed in the geographic area.
The steps described in this clause shall not be considered
to be an exhaustive list of the significant steps that may
be taken to meet the requirements of clause (i).
‘‘(iii) The steps described in clause (i) shall not be
considered effective if the employer has failed to decrease
by at least 10 percent in each of two consecutive years
the percentage of the employer’s total number of employ-
ees in the specific employment in which the H–1B workers
are employed which is represented by the number of H–
1B workers.
‘‘(iv) The Attorney General shall not approve peti-
tions filed under section 204 or 214(c) with respect to an
employer that has not, in the prior two years, complied
with the requirements of this subparagraph (including
subparagraph (D)).
‘‘(D)(i) The step described in this subparagraph is
payment of an amount consistent with clause (ii) by the
petitioning employer into a private fund which is certified
by the Secretary of Labor as dedicated to reducing the
dependence of employers in the industry of which the peti-
tioning employer is a part on new foreign workers and
which expends amounts received under this subclause con-
sistent with clause (iii).
‘‘(ii) An amount is consistent with this clause if it
is a percent of the value of the annual compensation (in-
cluding wages, benefits, and all other compensation) to be
paid to the alien whose services are being sought, equal
to 5 percent in the first year, 7.5 percent in the second
year, and 10 percent in the third year.
‘‘(iii) Amounts are expended consistent with this
clause if they are expended as follows:
‘‘(I) One-half of the aggregate amounts are
expended for awarding scholarships and fellow-
ships to students at colleges and universities in
the United States who are citizens or lawful
permanent residents of the United States ma-
joring in, or engaging in graduate study of,
subjects of direct relevance to the employers in
the same industry as the petitioning employer.
‘‘(II) One-half of the aggregate amounts
are expended for enabling United States work-
ers in the United States to obtain training in
occupations required by employers in the same
industry as the petitioning employer.’’.
(c) INCREASED PENALTIES FOR MISREPRESENTA-
TION.—Section 212(n)(2)(C) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(2)(C)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (C) in the matter before
clause (i), by striking ‘‘(1)(C) or (1)(D)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘(1)(C), (1)(D), (1)(E), or (1)(F) or to fulfill
obligations imposed under paragraph (3)(A) for em-
ployers attesting under paragraph (1)(G) to depend-
ence on H–1B workers’’;
(2) 
in 
subparagraph 
(C)(i), 
by 
striking
‘‘$1,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’;
(3) by amending subparagraph (C)(ii) to read
as follows:
‘‘(ii) the Attorney General shall not approve pe-
titions filed with respect to that employer (or any
employer who is a successor in interest) under sec-
tion 204 or 214(c) for aliens to be employed by the
employer—
‘‘(I) during a period of at least 1 year in
the case of the first determination of a violation
or any subsequent determination of a violation
occurring within 1 year of that first violation or
any subsequent determination of a nonwillful
violation occurring more than 1 year after the
first violation;
‘‘(II) during a period of at least 5 years in
the case of a determination of a willful violation
occurring more than 1 year after the first viola-
tion; and
‘‘(III) at any time in the case of a deter-
mination of a willful violation occurring more
than 5 years after a violation described in sub-
clause (II).’’; and
(4) in subparagraph (D), by adding at the end
the following: ‘‘If a penalty under subparagraph (C)
has been imposed in the case of a willful violation,
the Secretary shall impose an additional civil mone-
tary penalty on the employer in an amount equalling
twice the amount of backpay.’’.
(d) LIMITATION ON PERIOD OF AUTHORIZED ADMIS-
SION.—Section 214(g)(4) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(4)) is amended—
(1) 
by 
inserting 
‘‘or 
section
101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b)’’ 
after 
‘‘section
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b)’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘6 years’’ and inserting in lieu
thereof ‘‘3 years’’.
(e) REQUIREMENT FOR RESIDENCE ABROAD.—Sec-
tion 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b)) is amended by
inserting ‘‘who has a residence in a foreign country which
he has no intention of abandoning,’’ after ‘‘212(j)(2),’’.
(f) EFFECTIVE DATES.—
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
amendments made by this section shall take effect
60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) The amendments made by subsection (c)
shall apply with respect to violations occurring on or
after the date of enactment of this Act.
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