,i  #aaith ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #hica  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #bj1 #bjbf,ms4  
,king-,hinds introduced the following   
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,natural ,resources1 and  
in addition to the ,committee on the    
,judiciary1 for a period to be          
subsequently determined by the ,speaker1
 in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to eliminate the touchback  
requirement for certain ,commonwealth   
,only ,workers1 and for other purposes4 
#a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,northern ,mariana ,islands     
,workforce ,improvement ,act4  #b4      
,elimination of touchback requirement   
7a7 ,in general ,section #f7;d77#g7 of  
,public ,law #id-bda 7#dh ,u4,s4,c4     
#ahjf7;d77#g77 is amended to read as    
follows3  7#g7  ,permit validity2       
long-term workers  7,a7  ,in general    
,except as provided in subparagraph     

7,b71 a permit for a ,commonwealth ,only
 ,worker shall be valid for a period not
 to exceed #a year4  7,b7  ,renewals  ,a
 permit issued under subparagraph 7,a7  
may be renewed for additional periods of
 not more than #a year each1 subject to 
the requirements of this subsection4    
7,c7  ,long-term workers  ,an alien who 
was admitted to the ,commonwealth as a  
,commonwealth ,only ,transitional       
,worker--  7i7 during fiscal year #bjae2
 and  7ii7 during two of fiscal years   
#bjaf1 #bjag1 #bjah1 or #bjai1  may be  
admitted as a ,commonwealth ,only       
,transitional ,worker for a period that 
may not exceed #c years and may be      
renewed for additional #c-year periods  
during the transition period4 ,a permit 
issued pursuant to this subparagraph    
shall be counted toward the numerical   
cap for each fiscal year for which the  
permit is valid4  4  7b7 ,effective date
 ,the amendments made by this section   
shall take effect as if included in the 
enactment of ,public ,law #aae-bah4