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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE – ADVOCACY UPDATE CENTER
The Senate has passed S. 886, the State Department Appropriations Bill. Among other things, the bill will
remove the requirement imposed in the 1996 Immigration Act that an automated entry-exit program be established at land and sea ports and replace that with a required feasibility study to be completed within 1 year 
provides for the imposing of a fee on persons submitting Affidavits of Support in immigration cases. 
bar the entry of anyone directly involved in the establishment or enforcement of population control policies forcing a woman to undergo an abortion against her free choice or forcing a man or woman to undergo sterilization against his or her free choice. 
The Senate has also passed S. 1217, the Commerce, State and Justice Appropriations Bill. The bill includes a key provision restoring national interest waivers for physicians working in medically underserved areas. We report further on this later in this newsletter.
H.R. 1841, a bill to restore INA Section 245i remains pending in committee in the House of Representatives.
S. 1242, introduced by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), is a bill to make permanent the Visa Waiver Pilot Program. The VWPP allows nationals of certain countries to enter the US in visitor status without getting a visitor visa. The VWPP is available to nationals of countries with low visa overstay rates. The bill is now pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
S. 455, a bill to create a non-immigrant visa program for a limited number of nurses, has passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and continues to await a floor vote.
The House Immigration Subcommittee has recently held oversight hearings on a number of major issues. Most recently, the committee heard testimony regarding H.R. 2528, a bill to divide the INS into separate agencies – one for enforcement and the other for immigration services. We report more on this important, controversial legislation later in this issue. The committee also held hearings in July on counterfeiting and misuse of the social security card and state and local identity documents as well as the INS’ interior enforcement strategy.
A bill to permanently raise the H-1B quota to 200,000 is said to be in the works. Senator Gramm (R-TX) and Congressman David Dreier (R-CA) are the expected sponsors.
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