KIWI Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2245) to include New Zealand in the list of foreign states whose nationals are eligible for admission into the United States as E- 1 and E-2 nonimmigrants if United States nationals are treated similarly by the Government of New Zealand.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 2245, currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, E-1 visas are nonimmigrant visas available for treaty traders, and E-2 visas are available for treaty investors.

Pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, these visas are available to aliens who are ``entitled to enter the United States under and in pursuance of the provisions of a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and the foreign state of which he is a national, and their spouse and children . . . solely to either carry on substantial trade, including trade in services or trade in technology, principally between the United States and the foreign state of which he is a national, or to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which he has invested . . . a substantial amount of capital. . . . ''

Alien employees of treaty traders and treaty investors may receive visas if they are coming to the United States ``to engage in duties of an executive or supervisory character, or, if employed in a lesser capacity, if they have special qualifications that make the services to be rendered essential to the efficient operation of the enterprise.''

There are no numerical caps on E-1 or E-2 visas. Aliens may be admitted initially for a period of 2 years and can apply for extensions in 2-year increments.

The United States has entered into treaties of commerce since at least 1815, when we entered into a Convention to Regulate Commerce with the United Kingdom.

Currently, the nationals of 83 countries are eligible for E-1 or E-2 status. In fiscal year 2017, in total, about 50,000 E-1 and E-2 visas were issued.

In the past, countries became eligible for the E-1 and E-2 programs through treaties signed with the United States. However, in 2003, the Judiciary Committee reached an understanding with the U.S. Trade Representative that no immigration provisions were to be included in future trade agreements. Henceforth, legislation would be required to add countries.

The bill we are considering today, S. 2245, makes New Zealand nationals eligible for E-1 and E-2 visas. I want to thank Mr. Issa for all of his work on this issue, and for introducing companion legislation in the House. I am also appreciative of the Embassy of New Zealand for seeking E visa status in the right way.

I urge my colleagues to support S. 2245, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Maryland and Ranking Member Nadler and others for their work on this legislation, as well as Congressman Issa and Senator Hirono. This is very good legislation and it's overdue. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

S. 2245, the Knowledgeable Innovators and Worthy Investors Act, or KIWI Act, is bipartisan legislation to allow citizens of New Zealand to participate, along with the people of more than 80 other countries, in the E-1 and E-2 visa programs for treaty traders and treaty investors, so long as New Zealand provides the same reciprocal treatment to citizens of the United States.

I favor this commonsense bill that will facilitate trade by making it easier for New Zealanders to invest here and will lead to the creation of new jobs in the United States.

The E-1 treaty trader program provides temporary visas to employees of firms engaged in substantial trade with our country. The E-2 treaty investor program provides temporary visas to foreign investors who make substantial investments in American enterprise.

These visas help increase trade with and direct investments in the U.S. More than 80 countries already participate in the programs, including almost all of our democratic allies and trading partners. Yet New Zealand, one our closest and dearest allies, is not on the list.

There are already many New Zealand companies in the U.S., just as there are many of our companies in New Zealand. In 2016, our two countries engaged in approximately $12 billion of bilateral trade in goods and services; and the U.S. is already the second most popular destination for New Zealand foreign investment, accounting for 17 percent of all foreign investment by New Zealanders in 2016, for a total of $3.2 billion dollars.

Bringing New Zealand into the E-1 and E-2 programs will increase trade and bilateral investment flows, helping both of our countries accelerate economic growth and job creation.

While so much of our foreign policy is consumed today with dangerous and counterproductive trade wars against our allies, which is harmful to our farmers, especially our soybean, corn, and livestock farmers, I am glad that this bill will actually strengthen ties with one of America's closest and most steadfast allies.

Congratulations are in order for Senator Hirono, who championed this bill in the Senate, where it passed last month by unanimous consent. I also congratulate my Judiciary colleague, Darrell Issa, who authored the companion bill in the House. They both deserve credit for identifying this deficiency in our immigration laws and working across the aisle to craft a smart solution that has gained broad support in the body for adoption. Our country will be more prosperous and so, presumably, will be New Zealand as a result of their efforts.

I also want to thank Chairman Goodlatte and Chairwoman Ileana Ros- Lehtinen of the Foreign Affairs Committee for their support and work on behalf of this important legislation.

I urge my colleagues to support S. 2245, the KIWI Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 2245 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President, it is an honor to be involved in the passage of this important legislation. The Knowledgeable Innovators and Worthy Investors Act, or KIWI Act, is a bipartisan bill that legislatively extends E-1 and E-2 visas to citizens of New Zealand. It does not increase the number of available visas.

Granting access to these visas to New Zealand would increase both investment and trade into the United States and strengthen our relationship with New Zealand.

New Zealand is, of course, a country that is critical to our relationships. We have a critical strategic military and economic partner in the Asia-Pacific region with New Zealand, and this legislation will further strengthen America's presence in the Asia- Pacific region.

E-1 and E-2 visas allow qualified foreign nationals to engage in substantial trade or to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which the individual is heavily invested.

The United States will benefit from increased investment in trade with New Zealand. New Zealand's citizens and businesses currently make substantial investments in the United States. These businesses have created more than 10,000 jobs. In 2017, $10.5 billion in trade passed between the United States and New Zealand.

Allowing New Zealanders to apply for E-1 and E-2 visas will affirm reciprocity and strengthen the United States' relationship with New Zealand. Again, this is a country that is a critical ally and a partner in the Asia-Pacific region, and it will also increase the United States' presence in that region.

New Zealand is the only Five-Eyes country whose citizens are currently ineligible to apply for these visas, while American citizens are currently eligible for reciprocal visas in New Zealand. So I am grateful and honored to be involved in moving this legislation.

I am grateful to my colleagues for consenting to this. I am grateful to have worked on this with my distinguished colleague, the Senator from Hawaii, who worked hard with me to put together this bipartisan piece of legislation that we have been fortunate enough to pass through the Senate today.

Thank you.

I see that my colleague from Hawaii is here.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for November 2018. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2018, H. Con. Res. 71, and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, BBA18. This information is necessary for the Senate Budget Committee to determine whether budgetary points of order lie against pending legislation. The Republican staff of the Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office, CBO, prepared this report pursuant to section 308(b) of the Congressional Budget Act,

Madam President, I want to thank my colleague, the Senator from Utah, Mr. Lee, for working with me on the act that we just passed.