Conrad 30 Physician Workforce Optimization Act

[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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