I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3998
To expand au pair exchange visitor programs to include the provision of 
in-home independent living services for adults with disabilities, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 18, 2004
Mr. COOPER (for himself and Mr. FOLEY) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on International Relations 
A BILL 
To expand au pair exchange visitor programs to include 
the provision of in-home independent living services for 
adults with disabilities, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Au Pair Program Ex-
pansion Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Since their inception in 1986, au pair ex-
change visitor programs have become some of the
most successful cultural exchange programs in the 
history of the United States. 
(2) Au pair exchange visitor programs welcome 
approximately 12,000 au pairs into the United 
States per year. 
(3) Permanently authorized in 1997, au pair 
exchange visitor programs historically only included 
a child care component for participants. 
(4) The success of au pair exchange visitor pro-
grams in helping to meet the child care needs of 
families in the United States demonstrates the pro-
grams’ capacity to fulfill a demand for in-home as-
sistance while also providing a valuable cultural ex-
perience for au pair participants. 
(5) Currently, there is a critical shortage of 
providers of in-home independent living services for 
adults with low or moderate levels of disability. Al-
though these adults only require moderate levels of 
assistance with basic activities of daily living, the 
shortage of providers forces many of these adults to 
rely unnecessarily on expensive skilled care services 
or to live in an institutional setting at great cost. 
(6) The expansion of au pair exchange visitor 
programs to include the provision of in-home inde-
pendent living services for adults with disabilities
would not only improve the quality of life for such 
adults but would expand opportunities for foreign 
students to participate in such programs. 
(7) Due to the complexities of such an expan-
sion, a pilot program using sponsors that are al-
ready designated by the Department of State to con-
duct an au pair exchange program is the appropriate 
way to gauge the merits of undertaking such expan-
sion on a permanent basis. 
SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM EXPANDING AU PAIR PROGRAM 
TO 
INCLUDE 
IN-HOME 
ASSISTANCE 
PRO-
GRAMS FOR ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM; TERMI-
NATION.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall estab-
lish a pilot program under which sponsors designated by 
the Department of State to conduct an au pair exchange 
visitor program may place foreign nationals participating 
in such program in positions that require the foreign na-
tional to provide in-home independent living services to an 
adult with disabilities rather than child care services. Only 
sponsors designated by the Department of State to con-
duct an au pair exchange visitor program on the date of 
the enactment of this Act may participate in such pilot
program. Such pilot program shall terminate not earlier 
than 5 years after the date on which it is commenced. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—In promulgating regulations 
under subsection (a), the Secretary of State—
(1) shall define ‘‘in-home independent living 
services’’ to include only home support services such 
as—
(A) personal care (such as walking, bath-
ing, dressing, and assistance with eating); 
(B) homemaker services (shopping, meal 
preparation, and light housekeeping); and 
(C) performance of routine household 
chores (cleaning and yard work) and to exclude 
the provision of medical care or other services 
that are required to be delivered by licensed 
health professionals or under the direction of a 
physical or occupational therapist; 
(2) shall ensure that all cultural exchange and 
educational aspects of the existing au pair exchange 
visitor programs are unimpaired; 
(3) may include provisions expanding the age 
range of au pair candidates desiring to provide in-
home independent living services to adults with dis-
abilities; and