110th Congress

October 8, 2008

122 Stat. 4013

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H.R. 5571

An Act

        To extend for 5 years the program relating to waiver of the     foreign country residence requirement with respect to international medical graduates, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1.     EXTENSION OF WAIVER PROGRAM.

Section 220(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (8 U.S.C. 1182 note) is amended by striking `June 1, 2008' and inserting `March 6, 2009'.

SEC. 2.     EXPANDING THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE CONRAD STATE 30 PROGRAM.

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 `5' and inserting `10'.

SEC. 3.     SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of the Congress that—

(1) Federal programs waiving the 2-year foreign residence requirement under section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(e)) for physicians are generally designed to promote the delivery of critically needed medical services to people in the United States lacking adequate access to physician care; and

(2) when determining the qualification of a location for designation as a health professional shortage area, the Secretary of Health and Human Services should consider the needs of vulnerable populations in low-income and impoverished communities, communities with high infant mortality rates, and communities exhibiting other signs of a lack of necessary physician services.