[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 31 (Thursday, March 19, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2244-S2245]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        WIDESPREAD EDITORIAL SUPPORT FOR INCREASING THE H-1B CAP

  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today to draw the Senate's 
attention to several editorials from across the country that endorse an 
increase in the number of skilled professionals who are allowed in on 
H-1B visas.
  The American Competitiveness Act, which I have introduced along with 
Senators Hatch, McCain, DeWine, Specter, Grams, and Brownback, 
approaches the shortage of high-tech workers problem in both the short 
and long term. The bill will increase the annual number of H-1B visas 
that awarded to foreign-born professionals by approximately 25,000 this 
year, and will create 20,000 scholarships a year for U.S. students to 
study math, engineering, and computer science.
  The cap of 65,000 on these visas will likely be reached in May, four 
months before the end of the fiscal year. This will cause considerable 
disruption at U.S. companies and universities. Without legislative 
action, this problem will worsen each year until companies will no 
longer be able to count on access to key personnel that help fuel 
growth.
  If American companies cannot find home grown talent, and if they 
cannot bring talent to this country, a large number are likely to move 
key operations overseas, sending those and related jobs currently held 
by Americans with them. We do not want that to happen.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that these articles be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the materials was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

              High-Tech Talent: Don't Bolt the Golden Door

                          (By Howard Gleckman)

       Perhaps she's named Irina--a brilliant computer engineer 
     from Kiev. She wants to come to the U.S. and bring her dreams 
     of developing the next breaththrough in communications 
     software. But if she doesn't make it in the next few weeks, 
     she probably will be turned away.
       That's the sad result of bad immigration policy. In 1991, 
     Congress set quotas that allow only 65,000 high-tech workers 
     to enter the country annually. The cap was part of a larger 
     scheme to stem the flow of immigrants, legal and illegal. But 
     with American companies scrambling to find programmers, 
     engineers, and other highly skilled workers in a tight labor 
     market, business fears the 1998 quota could be filled by May.


                              on the cheap

       The high-tech industry is working with Senator Spencer 
     Abraham (R-Mich.) to raise the annual quota of these so-
     called H1-B visas to 90,000. But companies are getting a 
     chilly response from the Clinton White House, which argues 
     that U.S. employers are trying to get foreign workers on the 
     cheap when they should be investing more money in educating 
     and training the domestic workforce. ``Companies shouldn't be 
     able to say, `We'll use immigration law as our way out,' '' 
     says White House economic policy coordinator Gene B. 
     Sperling.
       The debate over wages and education misses the main point: 
     The U.S. shouldn't bar entry to skilled and creative people 
     at all. At the same time, there's no question that U.S. 
     businesses must support and generate efforts to raise the 
     quality of math and science schooling to ensure a sufficient 
     domestic crop of programmers and engineers in the future.
       But such educational reform will take years. In the 
     meantime, skilled immigrants who want to work in the U.S. 
     should be welcomed with open arms. Top-notch workers, no 
     matter what their nationality, stimulate an economy, creating 
     wealth and improving living standards overall.
       Indeed, the high-tech revolution now helping to fuel U.S. 
     economic expansion might not have been so powerful without 
     the drive and creativity of gifted immigrants. Everyone knows 
     about Andrew S. Grove, the Hungarian who co-founded chip-
     making giant Intel Corp. But there are hundreds of others. 
     Two of Sun Microsystems Inc.'s founding quartet were 
     foreigners. At Cypress Semi-conductor Corp., four of 10 vice-
     presidents are immigrants--from Britain, Germany, the 
     Philippines, and Cuba. Says Cypress CEO T.J. Rodgers: ``What 
     would [the U.S.] look like if the computer chip had been 
     created in Europe because of our lousy immigration policy?''
       Many immigrants arrive as students. Alan Gatherer, branch 
     manager of wireless communications at Dallas-based Texas 
     Instruments Inc., came from Scotland to study at Stanford 
     University. Simon Fang, who now works on complex integrated 
     circuits at TI, is originally from Taiwan. He also came to 
     the U.S. to attend graduate school, and thanks to an H1-B 
     visa, was able to stay.


                               whiz kids

       The ivy path makes the current visa restrictions all the 
     more perverse. Foreign students come to the U.S. to profit 
     from the best graduate education in the world. Some take jobs 
     here. But under H1-B visas, they must pack their bags six 
     years later. Other countries get the benefit of these U.S.-
     trained engineers and scientists.
       When these immigrants leave, the U.S. loses more than just 
     their talents. An extraordinary number of their children 
     achieve great success, too. Example: Of the 40 finalists in 
     this year's prestigious Westinghouse Science Talent Search 
     Award, 16 are either foreign-born or children of immigrants.
       Critics say immigrants take jobs from native-born 
     Americans. Maybe a few do. But articial barriers won't 
     protect U.S. jobs for long. If U.S.-based companies can't get 
     the skilled workers they need at home, they will set up shop 
     elsewhere--be it Dublin or Kiev. ``We are disarming the 
     economy of the United States if we don't allow skilled 
     workers to come in,''argues Dell computer Corp. CEO Michael 
     S. Dell.
       That's why it is essential for the U.S. to nurture the best 
     workforce in the world. It shouldn't matter whether these 
     top-notch employees are born in New York or New Delhi. 
     America, a nation of immigrants, should never turn its back 
     on people who want to come here to work. They have too much 
     to offer.
                                                                    ____


                 [From the Detroit News, Feb. 21, 1998]

                         Closing the Skills Gap

       Republican Sen. Spencer Abraham of Michigan is drafting a 
     bill that would help neutralize what is perhaps the single 
     biggest threat to America's economic boom: a shortage of 
     high-tech workers. The bill, which will propose raising the 
     1990 cap on highly skilled temporary workers from abroad, 
     deserves the support of all those who want to see continuing 
     gains in American prosperity and standard of living.
       The rapid pace of economic growth combined with record low 
     unemployment have created a paradoxical situation: High-tech 
     companies, the engine of much of the economic growth, cannot 
     find enough skilled workers to sustain current growth levels. 
     A study conducted by the Information Technology Association 
     of America estimates that there are more than 346,000 
     unfilled positions for highly skilled workers in American 
     companies.

[[Page S2245]]

       Should his situation persist, the Indiana-based Hudson 
     Institute, a prominent think tank, estimates that in just a 
     few years it will cause a 5 percent drop in the growth rate 
     of total economic activity, also known as gross domestic 
     product. That means a whopping $200 billion loss in national 
     output--nearly $1,000 for every American.
       ``It is as if America ran out of iron ore during the 
     industrial revolution,'' one industry official notes.
       The problem is particularly acute in Michigan, where high-
     tech needs are higher and the unemployment rate is lower than 
     the national average. Indeed, so severe is the crunch of 
     skilled workers here that many high-tech employers in Oakland 
     County recently convened a conference to discuss ways of 
     attracting more workers to the state.
       Despite the burgeoning demand, the immigration ceiling for 
     highly skilled immigrants has remained fixed at 65,000 for 
     the past eight years. Indeed, for the first time in history, 
     American employers last year reached this cap one month 
     before the end of the fiscal year. This year they are 
     expected to hit the limit even sooner.
       Protectionists and nativists will no doubt denounce Sen. 
     Abraham's bill as a threat to American workers. Many call for 
     increased subsidies for ``job training'' programs. But such 
     programs have seldom yielded the promised benefits.
       The real threat to American workers is that companies will 
     be forced to move abroad in search of talent.
                                                                    ____


                [From the Seattle Times, Feb. 23, 1998]

                        End Nativist Hiring Caps

       For six years, Congress has mandated that the high-tech 
     industry compete with one hand tied behind its back. It's 
     time to loosen the cuffs.
       The handicap comes in the form of an obscure immigration 
     limit called the H-1B visa program. The product of a nativist 
     backlash against highly skilled foreign workers, the law 
     prevents software firms, tech companies and others from 
     freely employing the best and brightest around the world. The 
     1990 provision set a national cap on visas for foreign 
     professionals--including computer engineers, programmers, 
     doctors and professors--of 65,000 a year. Demand has 
     skyrocketed and the high-tech industry faces a critical labor 
     shortage.
       Supporters of the cap say imported workers are stealing 
     jobs for native-born professionals. Nonsense. From its 
     founding, this country's economic growth and intellectual 
     achievements have been fueled by talented immigrants, not 
     curtailed by them.
       The domestic textile industry, space program, physical 
     sciences, biotech and computer industry all gained from the 
     contributions of immigrants--many of who become tax-paying 
     American citizens, created thousands of new jobs for their 
     fellow countrymen, and greatly increased the nation's stock 
     of human capital. Just consider: A third of all American 
     Nobel Prize winners were born overseas.
       Twelve percent of the fastest-growing firms in the nation 
     today were founded by immigrants. Andrew Grove, a Hungarian 
     emigre, was the force behind Intel. Charles Wang, a Shanghai 
     native, founded Computer Associates--a company employing 
     thousands and generating millions of dollars each year. 
     Eckhard Pfeiffer, CEO of powerhouse Compaq, is from Germany.
       Microsoft relies on skilled immigrants for about 5 percent 
     of its work force. At Seattle-based ZymoGenetics, two foreign 
     recruits--one from India and one from Austria--collaborated 
     on a new form of insulin that captured 45 percent of the 
     world market and catapulted the local biotech firm to 
     success. The stories of immigration-inspired innovation and 
     job creation in the Puget Sound region are endless.
       Certainly, the federal government should support efforts to 
     train (or retrain) a home-grown, high-tech work force. But 
     the key lesson here is that immigration is not a zero-sum 
     game. Labor produces more labor; there is no finite number of 
     jobs in any industry.
       Next week, Congress will hold hearings to re-examine the H-
     1B visa limits. Nativist demagogues will protest loudly. But 
     erecting barriers to a small but invaluable stream of skilled 
     immigrants hurts no one but ourselves.
       If lawmakers ignore employers, don't be surprised if high-
     powered high-techs move jobs overseas or contract out to 
     foreign firms. By curtailing through foolish hiring 
     restrictions the flexibility and growth of some of the 
     nation's most dynamic industries, ``America First'' 
     demagogues are putting America last.
                                                                    ____


               [From the Fairfax Journal, Mar. 10, 1998]

                            Jobs Go Begging

       Those who calculate such things say that more than 19,000 
     high-tech jobs are going begging in Northern Virginia. The 
     situation is bad enough that firms offer bounties to 
     employees who lure in others with particular skills. 
     Meanwhile, a Virginia Tech study done for the Information 
     Technology Association of America suggests that more than 
     340,000 highly skilled positions are unfilled around the 
     country--more than the population of Arlington, Alexandria, 
     Fairfax City and Falls Church combined.
       Those numbers have spawned hurry-up efforts in Northern 
     Virginia (Northern Virginia Community College and the 
     Herndon-based Center for Innovative Technology are major 
     players) and around the country to train more computer-savvy 
     workers before American companies start to lose their 
     competitive edge globally or the companies feel compelled to 
     ship more work overseas.
       But in addition to workforce training efforts, high-tech 
     companies ought to be able to bring more of those foreign 
     workers to our shores before they ship jobs elsewhere.
       Bills introduced in Congress by Rep. Jim Moran, D-8th 
     District, and Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Michigan, would 
     increase companies' access to foreign professionals. 
     Abraham's bill, would increase the cap on ``H1-B'' visas to 
     90,000 workers a year from 65,000. The H1-B program allows 
     companies to sponsor foreign professionals who generally get 
     permission to stay for six years. In 1997 the 65,000 cap was 
     reached in August and this year companies are expected to 
     reach the cap in May--such is the demand.
       Moran's bill, part of a package designed to train more 
     high-tech workers, would allow the Secretary of Labor to 
     grant permanent residency status to information technology 
     professionals for three years without quotas, as is done now 
     with nurses and physical therapists--as long as the efforts 
     don't take away jobs or earnings from Americans. Indeed, the 
     job vacancies suggest that no skilled worker, native-born or 
     immigrant, is scrounging for work at the moment.
       Moran's measure goes in the right direction, although anti-
     immigrant sentiment around the country is strong enough that 
     he might have to resort to a cap of some sort as a political 
     fallback. In any event, measures that open up American access 
     to highly trained technology professionals deserve the 
     support of the entire Northern Virginia delegation in 
     Congress.
       Allowing more foreign professionals into the U.S. makes all 
     the sense in the world. It would help keep the economy 
     humming in technology hubs such as Northern Virginia, and it 
     would give companies second thoughts about taking jobs 
     overseas. Further, these workers are anything but budding 
     welfare cases. They have to be paid the prevailing wage for 
     their skills--and the wages are darn good.
       High-tech firms say that easing the worker shortage is 
     critical to maintaining growth and competitiveness. 
     Increasing the number of Americans who receive high-tech 
     training, and bringing in more foreign workers who can do the 
     work, are two parts to improving the situation. There are 
     enough jobs going begging to try both approaches.

                          ____________________