S. 4637

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4637 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4637

To increase by 5 the number of flex waivers available in each State for 
J-1 nonimmigrants and to establish a secondary physician match portal 
to assist alien physicians who are unable to find employment in their 
preferred State of residence to find employment in another State.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 21, 2026

Mr. Cramer (for himself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To increase by 5 the number of flex waivers available in each State for 
J-1 nonimmigrants and to establish a secondary physician match portal 
to assist alien physicians who are unable to find employment in their 
preferred State of residence to find employment in another State.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Conrad 30 Physician Workforce 
Optimization Act''.

SEC. 2. INCREASING THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF FLEX WAIVER ALLOWANCE SLOTS IN 
EACH STATE.

Section 214(l)(1)(D)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1184(l)(1)(D)(ii)) is amended by striking ``10'' and inserting 
``15''.

SEC. 3. SECONDARY PHYSICIAN MATCH PORTAL.

Section 214(l) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1184(l)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(4)(A) The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services, after consultation with the heads of a representative 
sample of State Departments of Public Health, shall establish a 
portal for alien physicians who--
``(i) have been granted the status of a 
nonimmigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(J)(i);
``(ii)(I) have applied for a waiver of the 2-year 
foreign residence requirement under section 212(e), but 
were not selected by the State to which they submitted 
their application; or
``(II) have sought to apply for a waiver of the 2-
year foreign residence requirement under section 
212(e), but were unable to submit an application 
because the State's numerical cap had been reached, or 
applications were otherwise not accepted at the time of 
the attempted submission; and
``(iii) request to be included in such portal.
``(B) Any State, or any employer located in such State, 
that has not filled all of its allotted waivers under paragraph 
(1)(B) for the current fiscal year may use the portal 
established pursuant to subparagraph (A) to access information 
about the credentials of potential alien physicians who may be 
interested in obtaining full-time employment as a primary care 
or specialty care provider in such State.
``(C) Information about international medical graduates who 
request to be included in the portal established pursuant to 
subparagraph (A) shall be included on an attestation form that 
is sent to an organizing body to facilitate the dissemination 
of such information to States with available waivers.
``(D) The Director shall establish a secondary match 
period, not to exceed 60 days, during which employers in States 
with available waivers for the current fiscal year can review 
and interview alien physicians included in the portal before 
March 1st of such fiscal year.
``(E)(i) The portal shall contain essential information 
contained in the alien physicians initial application to 
streamline the secondary application process for potential 
employers.
``(ii) Employers participating in the secondary application 
process shall certify that--
``(I)(aa) their facilities are located in a health 
professional shortage area or in a medically 
underserved area; or
``(bb) they are seeking an applicable flex waiver 
under section 214(l)(1)(D)(ii); and
``(II) they have unsuccessfully advertised the 
position for which the alien physician will be hired.
``(iii) State departments of public health and prospective 
employers shall be provided access to the portal in order to 
identify potential alien physicians.
``(F) The Director, after consultation with a 
representative sample of State departments of health or related 
agencies, shall publish a set of best practices and core 
application requirements that--
``(i) assist States in determining the sufficiency 
of waiver applications submitted for the secondary 
match; and
``(ii) include the essential elements necessary to 
establish sufficiency and ensure a streamlined process 
for the secondary match applications.''.
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