I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 170 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the definition 
of ‘‘exempt H–1B nonimmigrant’’. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2017 
Mr. ISSA (for himself, Mr. PETERS, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. 
LABRADOR, Mr. SMITH of Texas, and Mr. POLIS) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify 
the definition of ‘‘exempt H–1B nonimmigrant’’. 
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 ‘‘Protect and Grow 
American Jobs Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The H–1B visa program allows businesses 
temporarily to hire highly skilled foreign workers 
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with specialized knowledge, where a qualified worker 
in the United States cannot be found. 
(2) In 1990, the Congress created the H–1B 
visa program to help ensure that access to qualified 
highly skilled professionals was not an obstacle to 
economic growth and job creation in the United 
States. 
(3) The H–1B visa program was never intended 
to be used as a catalyst for laying off workers in the 
United States and replacing them with H–1B work-
ers. 
(4) The unintended consequences of the H–1B 
visa program enabled a small number of companies 
to hire large numbers of H–1B workers relative to 
their United States worker populations. 
(5) In 1998, Congress passed new enforcement 
provisions to the H–1B program in order to prevent 
companies from displacing United States workers 
with lower-cost foreign professionals. 
(6) The 1998 revisions defined a new class of 
H–1B-dependent employers and established addi-
tional conditions on their business and hiring prac-
tices unless they paid sufficiently high wages. 
(7) The 1998 revisions, however, did not index 
wage requirements to keep pace with wage growth, 
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and, as a result, the strength of provisions designed 
to protect workers and employers committed to hir-
ing United States workers was reduced significantly. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to close a loophole in the 
H–1B visa program by requiring H–1B-dependent em-
ployers once again to pay sufficiently high wages to ensure 
the protection of the workforce in the United States and 
to remove other impediments to proper H–1B visa en-
forcement. 
SEC. 4. EXEMPT H–1B NONIMMIGRANT DEFINED. 
Section 212(n)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(3)(B)) is amended— 
(1) by striking clause (i) and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) the term ‘exempt H–1B nonimmigrant’ 
means an H–1B nonimmigrant who receives wages 
(including cash bonuses) at an annual rate equal to 
at least the greater of $100,000 or the applicable 
adjusted amount under clause (iii);’’; 
(2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 
end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iii) the amount described in clause 
(i) (as of the last increase to such amount) 
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shall be increased, effective for the third 
fiscal year that begins after the date of the 
enactment of this clause and for every 
third fiscal year thereafter, by the percent-
age (if any) by which the Consumer Price 
Index for the month of June preceding the 
date on which such increase takes effect 
exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the 
same month of the third preceding cal-
endar year.’’. 
Æ 
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