S.Amdt. 63

Mr. Sanders, along with Mr. Durbin, submitted an amendment to the bill S. 5. The purpose of this amendment is to add a section called PROTECTING WORKERS to the end of the bill. Folks we have voted into office need to be held accountable for looking out for the good of the people, so let's look at what this changes or adds.

What the amendment changes and adds

• Wages for H-1B workers: It changes the wage requirement for H-1B nonimmigrants. Instead of just a prevailing wage level, it replaces it with the higher of the median local wage level or the actual wage of similarly employed workers. It also removes subsection (p) and shifts other subsections around.

• Fee increases and scholarships: It increases a specific H-1B fee from $1,500 to $3,000. Out of the available funds, fifty percent of them will now go to the Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program of the National Science Foundation.

• Certification on mass layoffs: It adds a rule that an employer wanting to hire an H-1B worker must first give a written certification, under penalty of perjury, to the Secretary of Labor. This certification must state that the employer has not had to give a notice of a mass layoff in the past 12 months, and does not intend to give one.

• Losing a job and layoffs: If an employer has to give a mass layoff notice after hiring H-1B workers, those workers' status will expire 120 days after that notice is given. Employers can be exempt from these layoff rules if they certify under penalty of perjury that their total number of U.S. employees will not be reduced by a mass layoff.

• Worker mobility: It adds a rule saying that if an H-1B worker's employment ends, they are considered to keep their legal status for a 120-day period if a petition to extend, change, or adjust their status is filed during that time. It also requires the Secretary of State to allow certain aliens to renew their nonimmigrant visa in the United States if they are still eligible.