Oversee Visa Integrity with Stakeholder Advisories Act

Floor Speech

I am pleased to support the O-VISA Act, which is a narrow, but important, bill.

I thank my Judiciary Committee colleagues--the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Mimi Walters) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler)--for their bipartisan effort in introducing this legislation, which will bring needed transparency to the O visa petition process.

For individuals who seek an O visa specifically to work on a motion picture or a television production, the law requires that an individual have a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement, which must be recognized in the field through extensive documentation.

In recognizing the need to balance the demand for a global exchange of creative professionals with the need to prevent the displacement of American workers, current law requires that O visa petitioners provide a written advisory opinion from an appropriate labor organization regarding the beneficiary's qualifications. For example, when petitioning for a foreign director, a petitioner must seek an opinion from the Directors Guild of America.

As experts in their fields, these labor organizations are in a great position to appraise a beneficiary's qualifications. This process is intended to ensure that only the most extraordinary and accomplished individuals are granted an O visa. The O-VISA Act requires that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provide a copy of the agency decision to the labor union that is consulted as part of the petition when one seeks work in a motion picture or on television. By doing this, the bill will help ensure that the union consultation is a meaningful part of the agency adjudication, as required under current law; and it will bring transparency for employers, workers, and the organizations that represent them, which is always a good thing.

I do believe, as the gentlewoman has indicated, we could do more in this area. For example, we should be providing for the portability of O-1 visa holders and others so they can move between jobs. Portability not only helps employers in the industry, but it also ensures that foreign workers aren't trapped in positions or are used to undercut the wages of U.S. workers. I hope that we can continue the bipartisan effort that produced this legislation to make further improvements to the O visa program.

As indicated during the consideration of the bill in the Judiciary Committee, the language contained in this bill has been coupled with provisions that also make important changes to the O visa program that were included in the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform from the last Congress, which died here on the House side. That bill provided for portability; it removed redundancies; and it better aligned these programs with others that involved honorarium or appearance fees. I know that we are not doing an entire rewrite of the immigration laws at this juncture, but I am hopeful that we will continue to work on these further improvements as this chairman has indicated he would be interested in.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't say what we all know too well, which is that we have enormous problems in our immigration system. I hope that we can work together on real, substantial fixes on behalf of not just the movie industry--as important as that industry is--but for families, refugees, and employers in a range of industries, including agriculture and the high-skilled sector. Over the years, I have worked with friends on the other side of the aisle on immigration reforms, big and small, and I continue to stand ready to do so in the future.

I thank the Speaker, the bill's authors, and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Mimi Walters).
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Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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