Zoe Lofgren: “the H-1A nurses program was established to deal with a nursing shortage that has now evaporated. I understand the claim…”

“the H-1A nurses program was established to deal with a nursing shortage that has now evaporated. I understand the claim is that this program is still necessary for rural communities. However, it is important to note that four-fifths of the nurses who entered under the H-1A program went to metropolitan areas. In fact, one-third of them went to New York City. For those rural areas that need nurses, they have the ability to petition for nurses under the H-1B Program, and they should certainly utilize that. This extraordinary program that was useful for our country at one time expired in September, and it should stay dead. We had 6,000 nurses enter from Canada and Mexico under NAFTA in 1994 alone. Many nurses that came in through this program, and many more are still coming in through NAFTA. We have a nursing surplus right now, and the New England Journal of Medicine is predicting a 54 percent decrease in hospital beds. We are going to be awash in nurses. I urge opposition to the amendment.”