On the recordSeptember 26, 2018
I want to thank the conferees on H.R. 6157 for rejecting a proposal by the Trump administration to use this appropriation measure to impose a new $700 fee for businesses in the Northern Mariana Islands that employ foreign workers under the Commonwealth Only Transitional Worker (CW) program. Working with Chairman Bishop, Ranking Member Grijalva, and other colleagues here in the House of Representatives, I was recently able to enact the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act, Public Law 115- 218, including a new requirement for employment of those workers: the U.S. Department of Labor must first certify that no U.S. worker is able, willing, and available for the job that would be filled. This is the same kind of certification required prior to issuance of an H-2B visa for temporary foreign workers, but which is free for that purpose. In my view the certification should be free to employers in the Marianas, as well. I can understand that the Department may face new costs in standing up and operating this service for the Marianas CW program. The Department, however, had the opportunity during the drafting of the U.S. Workforce Act to ask for the authority to levy a fee. They did not nor is it likely I would have agreed. Nevertheless, it is in the interest of our businesses and the Marianas economy that the new certification requirement be initiated without delay. The conferees have ensured that will be the case by providing in Section 118 of H.R.…
