,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #agj  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of   
,,representatives  ,january #c1         
#bjag,mr4 ,issa 7for himself1 ,mr4      
,peters1 ,mr4 ,hunter1 ,mr4 ,farenthold1
 ,mr4 ,labrador1 ,mr4 ,smith of ,texas1 
and ,mr4 ,polis7 introduced the         
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on the ,judiciary  ,a    
,,bill  ,to amend the ,immigration and  
,nationality ,act to modify the         
definition of exempt ,h-#a;,b           
nonimmigrant4  #a4 ,short title ,this   
,act may be cited as the ,protect and   
,grow ,american ,jobs ,act4  #b4        
,findings ,the ,congress makes the      
following findings3  7#a7 ,the ,h-#a;,b 
visa program allows businesses          
temporarily to hire highly skilled      
foreign workers with specialized        
knowledge1 where a qualified worker in  
the ,united ,states cannot be found4    
7#b7 ,in #aiij1 the ,congress created   
the ,h-#a;,b visa program to help ensure
 that access to qualified highly skilled

 professionals was not an obstacle to   
economic growth and job creation in the 
,united ,states4  7#c7 ,the ,h-#a;,b    
visa program was never intended to be   
used as a catalyst for laying off       
workers in the ,united ,states and      
replacing them with ,h-#a;,b workers4   
7#d7 ,the unintended consequences of the
 ,h-#a;,b visa program enabled a small  
number of companies to hire large       
numbers of ,h-#a;,b workers relative to 
their ,united ,states worker            
populations4  7#e7 ,in #aiih1 ,congress 
passed new enforcement provisions to the
 ,h-#a;,b program in order to prevent   
companies from displacing ,united       
,states workers with lower-cost foreign 
professionals4  7#f7 ,the #aiih         
revisions defined a new class of        
,h-#a;,b-dependent employers and        
established additional conditions on    
their business and hiring practices     
unless they paid sufficiently high      
wages4  7#g7 ,the #aiih revisions1      
however1 did not index wage requirements

 to keep pace with wage growth1 and1 as 
a result1 the strength of provisions    
designed to protect workers and         
employers committed to hiring ,united   
,states workers was reduced             
significantly4  #c4 ,purpose ,the       
purpose of this ,act is to close a      
loophole in the ,h-#a;,b visa program by
 requiring ,h-#a;,b-dependent employers 
once again to pay sufficiently high     
wages to ensure the protection of the   
workforce in the ,united ,states and to 
remove other impediments to proper      
,h-#a;,b visa enforcement4  #d4 ,exempt 
,h-#a;,b nonimmigrant defined ,section  
#bab7n77#c77;,b7 of the ,immigration and
 ,nationality ,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4        
#aahb7n77#c77;,b77 is amended-- 7#a7 by 
striking clause 7i7 and inserting the   
following3  7i7 the term exempt ,h-#a;,b
 nonimmigrant means an ,h-#a;,b         
nonimmigrant who receives wages         
7including cash bonuses7 at an annual   
rate equal to at least the greater of   
#ajj1jjj or the applicable adjusted     

amount under clause 7iii72  2  7#b7 in  
clause 7ii71 by striking the period at  
the end and inserting 2 and2 and  7#c7  
by adding at the end the following3     
7iii7 the amount described in clause 7i7
 7as of the last increase to such       
amount7 shall be increased1 effective   
for the third fiscal year that begins   
after the date of the enactment of this 
clause and for every third fiscal year  
thereafter1 by the percentage 7if any7  
by which the ,consumer ,price ,index for
 the month of ,june preceding the date  
on which such increase takes effect     
exceeds the ,consumer ,price ,index for 
the same month of the third preceding   
calendar year4  4