(WASHINGTON, DC., April 30, 2020)—The Niskanen Center is pleased to announce its endorsement of the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, a bipartisan Senate bill that bolsters the healthcare workforce in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Introduced by Senators David Perdue (R-GA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Todd Young (R-IN), and Chris Coons (D-DE), the legislation would fix bureaucratic errors to recapture unused visas and allocate them to nurses and physicians helping us respond to the COVID-19 emergency.
As Niskanen’s Jeremy L. Neufeld explains, Congress has twice before recaptured visas that went unused—often due to bureaucratic miscalculations. This bill recaptures 25,000 visas for nurses—an occupation the Department of Labor identifies has faced a shortage for years—and 15,000 visas for physicians to ensure the U.S. healthcare workforce is completely prepared for COVID-19.
“This bill is an innovative, bipartisan effort that will offer an opportunity to enhance our healthcare workforce with individuals committed to coming to America, and will temporarily fix the long-standing problems of unused visas every year. At a time when lawmakers need to think strategically about the health and recovery of our nation, it’s refreshing to see a bipartisan coalition of leaders come together on this effort. We applaud the Senators’ innovative policymaking and commitment to working across the aisle” said Kristie De Peña, Vice President of Policy at the Niskanen Center.
De Peña added, “We urge both chambers to take up and pass this legislation as part of the next COVID-19 relief package.”
The Niskanen Center looks forward to continuing to work with lawmakers and their staffs on this important effort.
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The Niskanen Center is a 501(c)(3) advocacy organization established in 2014 that works to change public policy through direct engagement in the policymaking process.
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