I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5924 
To provide relief for the shortage of nurses in the United States, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 29, 2008 
Mr. WEXLER (for himself and Mr. SENSENBRENNER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be sub-
sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 
such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide relief for the shortage of nurses in the United 
States, 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 ‘‘Emergency Nursing 
Supply Relief Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NURSING SHORTAGE RELIEF. 
(a) INCREASING VISA NUMBERS.—Section 106 of the 
American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century 
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Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–313; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) VISA SHORTAGE RELIEF
FOR NURSES
AND 
PHYSICAL THERAPISTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
for petitions filed during the period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of the Emergency Nursing 
Supply Relief Act and ending on September 30, 
2011, for employment-based immigrants (and their 
family members accompanying or following to join 
under section 203(d) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(d)), which are or have 
been approved based on Schedule A, Group I as de-
fined in section 656.5 of title 20, Code of Federal 
Regulations, as promulgated by the Secretary of 
Labor, the numerical limitations set forth in sections 
201(d) and 202(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(d) 
and 1152(a)) shall not apply. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF VISAS.—The 
Secretary of State may not issue more than 20,000 
immigrant visa numbers in any one fiscal year (plus 
any available visa numbers under this paragraph not 
used during the preceding fiscal year) to principal 
beneficiaries of petitions pursuant to paragraph (1). 
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‘‘(3) EXPEDITED
REVIEW.—The Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall provide a process for re-
viewing and acting upon petitions with respect to 
immigrants described in paragraph (1) not later 
than 30 days after the date on which a completed 
petition has been filed. 
‘‘(f) FEE FOR USE OF VISAS UNDER SUBSECTION 
(a).— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall impose a fee upon each petitioning 
employer who uses a visa provided under subsection 
(e) to provide employment for an alien as a profes-
sional nurse, except that— 
‘‘(A) such fee shall be in the amount of 
$1,500 for each such alien nurse (but not for 
dependents accompanying or following to join 
who are not professional nurses); and 
‘‘(B) no fee shall be imposed for the use of 
such visas if the employer demonstrates to the 
Secretary that— 
‘‘(i) the employer is a health care fa-
cility that is located in a county or parish 
that received individual and public assist-
ance pursuant to Major Disaster Declara-
tion number 1603 or 1607; or 
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‘‘(ii) the employer is a health care fa-
cility that has been designated as a Health 
Professional Shortage Area facility by the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services 
as defined in section 332 of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e). 
‘‘(2) FEE COLLECTION.—A fee imposed by the 
Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to para-
graph (1) shall be collected by the Secretary as a 
condition of approval of an application for adjust-
ment of status by the beneficiary of a petition or by 
the Secretary of State as a condition of issuance of 
a visa to such beneficiary.’’. 
(b) CAPITATION GRANTS TO INCREASE THE NUM-
BER OF NURSING FACULTY AND STUDENTS; DOMESTIC 
NURSING ENHANCEMENT ACCOUNT.—Part D of title VIII 
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296p et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 832. CAPITATION GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose described in 
subsection (b), the Secretary, acting through the Health 
Resources and Services Administration, shall award a 
grant each fiscal year in an amount determined in accord-
ance with subsection (c) to each eligible school of nursing 
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that submits an application in accordance with this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—A funding agreement for a grant 
under this section is that the eligible school of nursing 
involved will expend the grant to increase the number of 
nursing faculty and students at the school, including by 
hiring new faculty, retaining current faculty, purchasing 
educational equipment and audiovisual laboratories, en-
hancing clinical laboratories, repairing and expanding in-
frastructure, or recruiting students. 
‘‘(c) GRANT COMPUTATION.— 
‘‘(1) AMOUNT PER STUDENT.—Subject to para-
graph (2), the amount of a grant to an eligible 
school of nursing under this section for a fiscal year 
shall be the total of the following: 
‘‘(A) $1,800 for each full-time or part-time 
student who is enrolled at the school in a grad-
uate program in nursing that— 
‘‘(i) leads to a master’s degree, a doc-
toral degree, or an equivalent degree; and 
‘‘(ii) prepares individuals to serve as 
faculty through additional course work in 
education and ensuring competency in an 
advanced practice area. 
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‘‘(B) $1,405 for each full-time or part-time 
student who— 
‘‘(i) is enrolled at the school in a pro-
gram in nursing leading to a bachelor of 
science degree, a bachelor of nursing de-
gree, a graduate degree in nursing if such 
program does not meet the requirements of 
subparagraph (A), or an equivalent degree; 
and 
‘‘(ii) has not more than 3 years of 
academic credits remaining in the pro-
gram. 
‘‘(C) $966 for each full-time or part-time 
student who is enrolled at the school in a pro-
gram in nursing leading to an associate degree 
in nursing or an equivalent degree. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—In calculating the amount 
of a grant to a school under paragraph (1), the Sec-
retary may not make a payment with respect to a 
particular student— 
‘‘(A) for more than 2 fiscal years in the 
case of a student described in paragraph (1)(A) 
who is enrolled in a graduate program in nurs-
ing leading to a master’s degree or an equiva-
lent degree; 
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‘‘(B) for more than 4 fiscal years in the 
case of a student described in paragraph (1)(A) 
who is enrolled in a graduate program in nurs-
ing leading to a doctoral degree or an equiva-
lent degree; 
‘‘(C) for more than 3 fiscal years in the 
case of a student described in paragraph 
(1)(B); or 
‘‘(D) for more than 2 fiscal years in the 
case of a student described in paragraph 
(1)(C). 
‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY.—In this section, the term ‘eligible 
school of nursing’ means a school of nursing that— 
‘‘(1) is accredited by a nursing accrediting 
agency recognized by the Secretary of Education; 
‘‘(2) has a passage rate on the National Council 
Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses of not 
less than 80 percent for each of the 3 academic 
years preceding submission of the grant application; 
and 
‘‘(3) has a graduation rate (based on the num-
ber of students in a class who graduate relative to, 
for a baccalaureate program, the number of students 
who were enrolled in the class at the beginning of 
junior year or, for an associate degree program, the 
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number of students who were enrolled in the class 
at the end of the first year) of not less than 80 per-
cent for each of the 3 academic years preceding sub-
mission of the grant application. 
‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may award a 
grant under this section to an eligible school of nursing 
only if the school gives assurances satisfactory to the Sec-
retary that, for each academic year for which the grant 
is awarded, the school will comply with the following: 
‘‘(1) The school will maintain a passage rate on 
the National Council Licensure Examination for 
Registered Nurses of not less than 80 percent. 
‘‘(2) The school will maintain a graduation rate 
(as described in subsection (d)(3)) of not less than 
80 percent. 
‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 
the first-year enrollment of full-time nursing stu-
dents in the school will exceed such enrollment for 
the preceding academic year by 5 percent or 5 stu-
dents, whichever is greater. 
‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the 
first academic year for which a school receives a 
grant under this section. 
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‘‘(C) With respect to any academic year, the 
Secretary may waive application of subparagraph 
(A) if— 
‘‘(i) the physical facilities at the school in-
volved limit the school from enrolling additional 
students; or 
‘‘(ii) the school has increased enrollment in 
the school (as described in subparagraph (A)) 
for each of the 2 preceding academic years. 
‘‘(4) Not later than 1 year after receiving a 
grant under this section, the school will formulate 
and implement a plan to accomplish at least 2 of the 
following: 
‘‘(A) Establishing or significantly expand-
ing an accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing 
program designed to graduate new nurses in 12 
to 18 months. 
‘‘(B) 
Establishing 
cooperative 
intradisciplinary education among schools of 
nursing with a view toward shared use of tech-
nological resources, including information tech-
nology. 
‘‘(C) Establishing cooperative interdiscipli-
nary training between schools of nursing and 
schools of allied health, medicine, dentistry, os-
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teopathy, optometry, podiatry, pharmacy, public 
health, or veterinary medicine, including train-
ing for the use of the interdisciplinary team ap-
proach to the delivery of health services. 
‘‘(D) Integrating core competencies on evi-
dence-based practice, quality improvements, and 
patient-centered care. 
‘‘(E) Increasing admissions, enrollment, 
and retention of qualified individuals who are 
financially disadvantaged. 
‘‘(F) Increasing enrollment of minority and 
diverse student populations. 
‘‘(G) Increasing enrollment of new grad-
uate baccalaureate nursing students in graduate 
programs that educate nurse faculty members. 
‘‘(H) Developing post-baccalaureate resi-
dency programs to prepare nurses for practice 
in specialty areas where nursing shortages are 
most severe. 
‘‘(I) Increasing integration of geriatric con-
tent into the core curriculum. 
‘‘(J) Partnering with economically dis-
advantaged communities to provide nursing 
education. 
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‘‘(K) Expanding the ability of nurse man-
aged health centers to provide clinical education 
training sites to nursing students. 
‘‘(5) The school will submit an annual report to 
the Secretary that includes updated information on 
the school with respect to student enrollment, stu-
dent retention, graduation rates, passage rates on 
the National Council Licensure Examination for 
Registered Nurses, the number of graduates em-
ployed as nursing faculty or nursing care providers 
within 12 months of graduation, and the number of 
students who are accepted into graduate programs 
for further nursing education. 
‘‘(6) The school will allow the Secretary to 
make on-site inspections, and will comply with the 
Secretary’s requests for information, to determine 
the extent to which the school is complying with the 
requirements of this section. 
‘‘(f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 
evaluate the results of grants under this section and sub-
mit to Congress— 
‘‘(1) not later than 18 months after the date of 
the enactment of this section, an interim report on 
such results; and 
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‘‘(2) not later than September 30, 2010, a final 
report on such results. 
‘‘(g) APPLICATION.—An eligible school of nursing 
seeking a grant under this section shall submit an applica-
tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information and assurances as the Sec-
retary may require. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In ad-
dition to the amounts in the Domestic Nursing Enhance-
ment Account, established under section 833, there are 
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec-
essary to carry out this section. 
‘‘SEC. 833. DOMESTIC NURSING ENHANCEMENT ACCOUNT. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
general fund of the Treasury a separate account which 
shall be known as the ‘Domestic Nursing Enhancement 
Account.’ Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
there shall be deposited as offsetting receipts into the ac-
count all fees collected under section 106(f) of the Amer-
ican Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 
2000 (Public Law 106–313; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note). Nothing 
in this subsection shall prohibit the depositing of other 
moneys into the account established under this section. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts collected under sec-
tion 106(f) of the American Competitiveness in the Twen-
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ty-first Century Act of 2000, and deposited into the ac-
count established under subsection (a) shall be used by 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out 
section 832. Such amounts shall be available for obligation 
only to the extent, and in the amount, provided in advance 
in appropriations Acts. Such amounts are authorized to 
remain available until expended.’’. 
(c) GLOBAL HEALTH CARE COOPERATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 317 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 317A. TEMPORARY ABSENCE OF ALIENS PROVIDING 
HEALTH CARE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
shall allow an eligible alien and the spouse or child of such 
alien to reside in a candidate country during the period 
that the eligible alien is working as a physician or other 
health care worker in a candidate country. During such 
period the eligible alien and such spouse or child shall be 
considered— 
‘‘(1) to be physically present and residing in the 
United States for purposes of naturalization under 
section 316(a); and 
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