Skip to main content

Bridge amendment attached to Labor bill

The US Senate approved a proposal to attach the Bridge amendment to the Labor Health and Human Services appropriations bill. The amendment would open up as much as 61,000 visas for nurses and their immediate families.

This is very good news indeed. There is still a long way to go, but this is a major step forward for all foreign nurses. There is a threat that President Bush might veto this bill if it passes the conference. Bush' displeasure with the bill is not directed against the bridge amendment, instead his attention is focused on other provisions of the bill, particularly with regard to the size of the proposed budget under the bill.

Read the full story from Hammond Law's blog.

Comments

Deany Bocobo said…
Filipinos around the world may find this email from Bruce Hall very interesting. It's been making the rounds and finally landed in PDI's letter box:
An article (“‘Acceptable presence’ new US basing plan,” Inquirer, 10/15/07) stated that the Philippines is “one small and weak country.” This statement is not true. It is a myth. It is a lie.

The Philippines is the 12th largest country in the world. It is larger than any European country. It is larger than any but one country in Africa. It is larger than any but one country in South America. There are over 160 countries in the world smaller than the Philippines, most barely a fraction of its size; over 150 less than half its size. Metro Manila alone is bigger than half of all the countries of the world. The Roman Empire at its height only had 60 percent of the people that the Philippines has.

Neither is the Philippines weak. To put it simply, a country that is twice the size of 90 percent of all the countries in the world is not weak. A country whose largest city is larger than most countries is not weak. Further, the Philippine economy is in the upper quartile as is the size of its military. The Philippines is an English-speaking country, giving us, in this “English-speaking” world, influence much larger than our size. Filipinos also go abroad in disproportional numbers, making many important key industries dependent upon them.

Adding to the Philippines’ importance is that we are in Asia, a far more important corner of the world -- geopolitically that is -- than, say, Africa or Latin America. The Philippines has played important, influential roles in such events as World War II, the Vietnam War and the Cold War. We will be a key player in such continuing issues as the “War on Terror” and Chinese and Indian growth.

The statement that the Philippines is small and weak is only true when the country is compared with the United States. But the United States is a historical anomaly. No country has ever been as big, powerful or dominant as the United States, particularly in the last generation or so. That country is odd. We should not look to the United States for comparison but to countries more like the Philippines, countries like Indonesia or Columbia.

Instead of asking, “Why are we not like the United States?” we should look at countries like Nigeria, Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Afghanistan, and ask, “Why are we not like them?”

BRUCE HALL (via email)
Anonymous said…
Very true!!!

Popular posts from this blog

//How To// Applying for a license in New Zealand

Filipino nurses who wish to register with the Nursing Council of New Zealand must show proof that they are registered with the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) of the Philippines as a nurse and they must either 1) have completed an assessment program or 2) have earned a qualification equivalent to a New Zealand nursing qualification. Only a nursing degree earned from an Australian nursing school is deemed equivalent to a NZ nursing qualification, so unless you have the money to enroll in Australia or NZ, the best route to take is the 6-week competency assessment program. To simplify the application process, here's what you need to do: 1. Take the IELTS. A band of 7 on all parts of the exam is required by the NZ Nursing Council. An average of 7, with scores below 7 in any part will not qualify you for registration. You must consistently score at least 7 in all parts--reading, listening, writing and speaking. 2. Once you have the IELTS, contact the NZ Nursing Council. You wil

(Updated) Pearson Vue's Manila testing center contact info

Pearson Vue today will begin scheduling services for the NCLEX-RN exam in its Manila testing center. Here's the contact information for the Manila center: Pearson Professional Centers-Manila, Philippines Telephone: +63 2 887 2198 Address: 27th Floor, Trident Tower 312 Senator Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City, Manila The number listed above has now been updated and is the official number of the Pearson office in Manila. If you can't reach this number, you may try other Pearson Vue hotlines: * The Asia-Pacific call center (based in Australia): +612-94785400 * You may try this number as well: 1280061294785400 (The prefix 1 and 2 might be for int'l dialing, so you can replace it with your use your provider's int'l dialing instructions, for ex. +1 or +001, etc.) * You can also try this: 1800-1110-0796 loc 3 (Contributed by Kokeshi) * Chicago, Illinois office: 312-525-3667 or 312-525-3600 (submitted by a reader) You can see a map of the Pearson Vue testing