{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/murkowski-speaks-on-h-1b-court-ruling", "Murkowski Speaks on H-1B Court Ruling", "2026-06-08", "2026", "2026-06", "Republican", "Senate", "AK", "Lisa Murkowski", "M001153", "www.murkowski.senate.gov", "murkowski", "https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/press-releases?PageNum_rs=1", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014Following today\u2019s announcement that a federal judge struck down a $100,000 fee that U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement:\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s decision from a U.S. District Judge to vacate the policy implementing the Presidential Proclamation mandating a $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applicants\u2014a 5,000% increase in some cases\u2014came at a critical time for Alaska\u2019s schools that are in the midst of hiring before next fall. Many school districts in rural and remote parts of the state rely on the H-1B visa program to bring quality teachers to their communities. In Alaska, this isn\u2019t a partisan issue: the state legislature unanimously passed a resolution last month urging the federal government to waive the fee for educators.\n\n\u201cLast year, I introduced legislation to create an educator exemption, and I\u2019ve been talking to Secretary Mullin about an administrative waiver from the fee to help bring teachers here. Today\u2019s news is welcome relief for Alaska\u2019s schools, but I will continue working to eliminate this fee permanently so that Alaska\u2019s students are receiving the best education possible, regardless of the outcome of future legal challenges.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nOn September 19, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation requiring all H-1B visa applicants to accompany their petitions with a payment of $100,000 to be considered for entry into the U.S., in addition to existing fees and costs. School districts across Alaska have faced persistent teaching shortages while struggling to hire domestically. Alaska has made significant progress in addressing the issue by recruiting internationally and using the H-1B visa program to help ensure classrooms remain staffed.\n\nOn October 8, 2025, Senator Murkowski wrote a letter to then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem urging her to use her discretionary waiver authority to exempt teachers from the increased fee.\n\nSenator Murkowski highlighted in the letter to the Department that \u201cAlaska\u2019s most rural school districts have small budgets\u2014particularly in light of the high costs to provide services in rural Alaska\u2014due to small student populations. A requirement to pay $100,000 per H-1B teacher would be impossible to meet\u2014both for the districts and the individual teachers.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-06-10T06:36:00Z", "2026-06-10T06:37:32Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/murkowski-speaks-on-h-1b-court-ruling"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4313021674752235, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}