H-1B Amendment Survives Conference Committee

An H-1B-related amendment offered by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) to the economic stimulus package has survived conference committee and was a part of the final bill signed by President Obama.  Entitled the “Employ American Workers Act,” the Sanders-Grassley Amendment seeks to limit entities that receive funds from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) — established by last year’s $700 billion financial services sector bailout legislation — from displacing U.S. citizen workers. (CongressDaily, February 13, 2009).

The original text of the amendment as it was filed by Senators Sanders and Grassley would have barred any recipient of TARP funding from hiring any H-1B workers. (Congressional Record, S1590).  However, on the Senate floor, the Sanders Amendment was modified so that companies that receive TARP funding are not barred from hiring H-1B workers, but instead must follow the rules proscribed for so-called “H-1B Dependent Employers.”  (Congressional Record, S1669 & S1803).  These rules require employers who have significant numbers of H-1B employees (measured in proportion to the total workforce) to: (1) attest that they have made good-faith attempts to hire U.S. workers at prevailing wages (or industry-standard wages); (2) attest that their hiring of H-1B employees does not displace U.S. workers who have sought those same jobs; and (3) maintain paper records showing that they have complied with wage and other work condition standards.

The modified amendment was eventually adopted by voice vote. As modified, this language “isn’t as tough as what Senator Grassley originally proposed… [but instead the] modified amendment… makes TARP recipients jump through extra hoops before they can hire those foreign workers.”  (BusinessWeek, February 13, 2009).

Link…