Susan Collins: “I rise to introduce the Creating Opportunities for Minor League Professionals, Entertainers and Teams through legal…”

“I rise to introduce the Creating Opportunities for Minor League Professionals, Entertainers and Teams through legal Entry--COMPETE--Act. This bill will level the playing field for minor league sports teams that depend on getting the best athletic talent. I thank Senators Feinstein, Cornyn, Lieberman, Mikulski, and Leahy for joining me in introducing this measure. The core problem we address is that under current law, minor league players who have to use the H-2B visa category face severe visa shortages, while major league players qualify automatically for plentiful P-1 visas. The H-2B visas are intended for use by industries facing seasonal demands for labor, such as the hospitality and logging industries. However, this type of visa is also used by many talented, highly competitive foreign athletes who are recruited by U.S. teams. A chronic H-2B visa shortage over the last few years has posed challenges for all industries using the H-2B visa category. In recent fiscal years, including 2006, the 66,000 visa cap was met early in the year. While we were successful last year in crafting a temporary, 2- year fix for the H-2B shortage, this fix will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. However, solving this problem goes beyond fixing the H-2B visa cap. Minor league players simply do not belong in the same visa category as seasonal workers.…”