John Cornyn: “I want to make sure our colleagues understand exactly what this amendment does. It is very short. Let me read from it.…”

“I want to make sure our colleagues understand exactly what this amendment does. It is very short. Let me read from it. What it says is one can qualify for a guest worker program if ``the alien has been employed in H-2C status'' and maintained that ``for a cumulative period of not less than 4 years. . . .'' Let me make clear, that was part of a negotiation that Senator McCain and Senator Graham and others and I entered into before we offered the modification because they felt it would be fairer. I agreed that was a reasonable request on their part. I would hope that others would feel the same way. But the second and third parts are the guts of this amendment. It also requires that: An employer attests that the employer will employ the alien in the offered job position; and-- And this is the most important part. This is the American worker protection-- the Secretary of Labor determines and certifies that there are not sufficient United States workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to fill the job position. Now, this underlying bill provides a lot of protection for guest workers who qualify under this program. And I agree that they should be protected from exploitation. That is one of the reasons this law has been created. But it does not create exploitation at the hands of an employer any more than any other employee in America is subjected to exploitation by their employer.…”