DOCTORS Act

Bill: 118-hr-6980
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Nehls, Troy E. [R-TX-22]
Introduced: 2024-01-11
Policy area: Immigration
Latest action: action_date: 2024-01-11
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6980 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 11, 2024 Mr. Nehls (for himself, Mr. Schneider , Ms. Stefanik , Mr. Davis of North Carolina , Mr. Valadao , Mr. Krishnamoorthi , Ms. Salazar , Ms. Sewell , Mr. Higgins of Louisiana , Mr. Casten , Mrs. Hinson , Ms. Salinas , Mr. Pascrell , Mr. Bera , Mr. Costa , and Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for the reallocation of unused waivers of the foreign residency requirement for certain J-visa holders.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Directing Our Country’s Transfer Of Residency Slots or the DOCTORS Act . 2. Reallocation of unused waivers of the foreign residency requirement for certain J-visa holders Section 214( l ) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184( l )) is amended by adding at the end the following: (4) (A) Beginning on September 30, 2025, and every September 30 thereafter, each State agency that received a waiver under section 212(e) during the fiscal year that ends on that date shall report to the Secretary of State the total number of such waivers that the State agency did not use during such fiscal year. (B) (i) For fiscal year 2025, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall— (I) calculate the total number of unused waivers reported by all State agencies under subparagraph (A); and (II) subject to clause (ii), reallocate such waivers for equal distribution among eligible State agencies for use during the subsequent fiscal year as waivers subject to paragraph (1)(D)(ii) (referred to in this paragraph as supplemental waivers ). (ii) In accordance with the 3-year commitment required under paragraph (1)(D), the number of supplemental waivers to be redistributed for use during a subsequent fiscal year shall be the total number of unused waivers described in clause (i)(I) divided by three. (C) In reallocating waivers under subparagraph (B), on January 1, 2025, and every January 1 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall inform each eligible State agency of— (i) the number of supplemental waivers available to the State agency for the subsequent fiscal year; and (ii) the manner in which the supplemental waivers will be distributed. (D) If the number of supplemental waivers distributed under this paragraph in a fiscal year is less than the total number of supplemental waivers available for distribution in the fiscal year, the difference between the number distributed and the number available for distribution shall be added to the total number of supplemental waivers available for distribution in the subsequent fiscal year. (E) Ten percent of supplemental waivers distributed in a fiscal year shall be used to support positions in 1 or more facilities that serve patients who reside in medically underserved communities (as defined in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 295p ). (F) In this paragraph, the term eligible State agency means a State agency that, in the preceding fiscal year, used not fewer than 30 waivers under section 212(e). .