Washington, D.C. - The House today debated and passed Rep. Berman's H.R. 1312, the Arts Requre Timely Service (ARTS) Act.  Rep. Berman submitted the following statement for the record in support of his bill, which passed unanimously by voice vote.

"M. Speaker, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee has explained the problem addressed by H.R. 1312.  I just want to add a short history of the bipartisan work on this issue.  I also want to express my appreciation to Chairman Conyers for moving the bill and to some of my colleagues who have been advocating for this solution for quite some time. 

"For several years now, a bipartisan group of Members has been urging USCIS to find and administrative remedy for lengthy processing times experienced by arts organizations petitioning for O and P visas.  In October 2003, I was joined by fifteen Members in sending a letter to USCIS Director Aguirre encouraging him to implement a number of reforms in the processing of arts-related visas.  At the time, arts organizations filing for O and P visas were in a real Catch-22.  They were not allowed to file visa petitions earlier than 6 months before a performance, but USCIS was routinely taking longer than 6 months to adjudicate the petitions. 

"To their credit, USCIS did what they could to remedy the problem by regulation.  But USCIS could not do administratively what we recommended, which was to create a consequence for failing to meet the required processing time for O and P petitions.  That was the impetus for this bill.

The only remedy available without the bill was to pay for premium processing.  Telling a non-profit arts organization to pay a thousand dollars for expedited process is in effect saying: “You’ve paid $390 to file this petition that we’re required by law to process in 14 days, but for an extra $1000, we might process in 15 days.” That just doesn’t make any sense. 

"What we’ve done in this bill is create an incentive for timely processing.

"Solving this problem has been a joint effort. We have had the benefit of input from the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the cooperation of Ranking Member Lamar Smith, who worked with us to tighten the language of the bill at markup.  I want to express my appreciation for the collaboration of my colleagues Mr. Lungren, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Chabot, our former colleague on the Judiciary Committee, Mrs. Blackburn, and the many other Members who joined in the efforts leading up to this legislation.

"International arts exchange is, in a sense, cultural diplomacy.  Just a few weeks ago, the New York Philharmonic made an historic trip to Pyongyang.  I understand that the 300-member delegation was the largest U.S. presence in North Korea since the end of the Korean war.  The Philharmonic’s musical director called the visit “a gesture of friendship and goodwill from one people to another."  These exchanges may not resolve the world’s conflicts, but they create bonds that can pay substantial dividends in years to come. 
 
"The ARTS Act is meant to encourage and facilitate these exchanges, and I urge my colleagues to support it."