[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 50 (Wednesday, April 29, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H2598-H2600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  H-1B VISAS: THE STEALTH WAY OF TAKING U.S. JOBS FROM WORKERS PROGRAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Klink) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KLINK. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight, I understand the hour is 
late, but I think this is a very important issue.
  We have a program which many Members of Congress are not familiar 
with. It is called the H-1B visa program. This program allows 
industries from this Nation to bring over mostly high-tech workers from 
other countries, 65,000 workers a year right now, for temporary jobs. 
They can stay here for 6 years.
  This was a program that was established back in 1990 because we were 
being told that we had an anticipated shortage of scientists and of 
engineers. By the time this program was in place, the Berlin Wall had 
fallen and we did not have as much of a need in the defense industry 
for this kind of technical expertise.
  But what ended up happening was many countries found out that they 
could go overseas, they could bring over computer programmers or 
reprogrammers rather than train American workers, and we have seen 
throughout this country a propensity of what I would refer to as job 
shops, that is companies that are providing computer programmers to our 
industries. And our industries are laying off unbelievable numbers of 
American workers, and they are being replaced by these temporary 
foreign workers.
  I think we are really headed down a tragic highway in this country. I 
would just want to point out to the Members of the House that, as the 
technical and high-tech industry is beating the drum saying we have 
need to import workers, that we have really thousands upon thousands of 
students that are graduating from college every year, and we are just 
debating here on the floor of the House how we deal with the student 
loan program.
  These students are graduating from college. They have large amounts 
of student loans to pay back and, in many instances, they find 
themselves waiting on tables because they cannot get jobs. They could 
be trained to take these jobs. They could be trained to do computer 
programming.
  And, at the same time, we are hearing from the computer industry and 
many others that they have this high-tech labor shortage. The headlines 
across the Nation in our papers are telling a different story.
  Let me just read something from the Wall Street Journal that just 
said, a steady drumbeat of layoff announcements in industry sectors 
that until recently have complained about personnel shortages. In the 
Silicon Valley, layoffs have occurred at Seagate Technology 
Incorporated, Silicon Graphics, Netscape Communications Corporation, 
Apple Computer Incorporated, Sybase Incorporated and others. Some firms 
have cut hiring plans; help wanted advertising has slumped since the 
start of the year. Elsewhere, high-tech giants are shedding staff.
  Last week, again, according to the Wall Street Journal, Xerox 
Corporation announced the layoff of 9,000 people. Yet we want to import 
up to 95,000 workers a year from other countries and give them these 
jobs.
  Something is wrong in America today. We have not had a debate as to 
the need for this.
  The other difficulty is that here is a high-tech industry which 
prides itself on identifying and quantifying problems, yet they have 
not proven, according to the GAO, that, in fact, there is a shortage. 
The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) and myself asked the GAO to 
look into these claims, and we found out that the material that they 
are using to justify this claim is faulty.
  Also, last week in the San Francisco Examiner, they ran an 
unprecedented series of letters from readers that are concerned about 
the alleged shortage of information technology workers. Their 
conclusion is that we are seeing age discrimination that is pushing 
into this high-tech sector, pushing many qualified American workers out 
of the marketplace. The employers want cheaper, more exploitable 
foreign workers.
  And I would like to quote at length from some of these letters, 
because I think we here in Congress are too busy as we rush through our 
legislative schedule and we have not heard from these workers.
  An older computer consultant has said, ``At job fairs, many older 
people, including myself, are rudely treated by young recruiters from 
human resources. In one blatant case, I saw a recruiter from a major 
local computer manufacturer and software firm refuse to talk to anyone 
who looked like they were over 35. Resumes from older people were 
tossed in one pile, resumes from younger people were put on another 
pile with attached notes from a mini interview.''
  I would also like to talk about one worker who said he was being 
brought back to his former employer to do what

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he called really retroactive--he actually called it mentoring a foreign 
engineer who now does his job. So they laid him off, brought over 
foreign workers, and he had to train them to do his job.
  There is a problem in America, Mr. Speaker, and we in Congress have 
to address it.
  Mr. Speaker, I am also providing for the Record more detailed 
information regarding the H-1B program, which follows herewith:

                              H-1B Program

       Origin of H-1B Program: It was established in 1990 to 
     alleviate an anticipated shortage of scientists and 
     engineers, particularly at the Ph.D level. By the time it was 
     in place, however, the Berlin Wall had fallen, there was an 
     economic downturn, and downsizing was rampant in defense and 
     other industries using these people. The main proponents of 
     the program were the universities, the National Science 
     Foundation and some industry groups.
       Supposed to be a Temporary Program: The program is a high-
     tech guestworker program. It allows 65,000 persons in 
     ``specialty'' occupations to enter the U.S. for three years 
     with one renewal for a total of six years to respond to 
     ``temporary'' shortages. Then they are supposed to return 
     home. Many, many H-1Bs are used by foreign students trying to 
     stay in the country. Their employers use H-1Bs as a way to 
     see if they want to sponsor the person permanently. So a 
     large, large number of these people never go back home.
       Approval is Quick and Easy: The employer certifies to the 
     Labor Department that it needs a worker in a certain 
     occupation (names are not required) and will pay the 
     prevailing wage. There is no requirement to show that there 
     is an actual shortage in that occupation. After the 
     certification is received, a person's name is attached and 
     INS and the State Department process the visa. Three years 
     ago, this entire process could be done in about a month so 
     employers loved it.
       Misuse of H-1B: While in the H-1B status, however, they are 
     indentured servants to their employers. The job they hold is 
     for an occupation, not a certain person. They can be 
     underpaid, forced to work seven days a week, etc., until they 
     can obtain their green card or have to go back home.
       Layoffs: In the meantime, another sub-industry of temporary 
     workers developed in the information technology industry. 
     Numerous temporary employment companies appeared which hired 
     almost exclusively H-1Bs from India, Taiwan and the 
     Philippines, paid them less than American workers and used 
     them to replace American workers, particularly computer 
     programmers. Three years ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee 
     held hearings at which laid-off U.S. programmers appeared. 
     Most had lost their jobs to foreign H-1Bs.
       65,000 Limit: Until last year, the 65,000 limit was never 
     reached. Then, suddenly, last year, it was reached at the end 
     of August, and the cries of pain from the high-tech industry 
     for raising the cap. There has been no analysis of why this 
     happened.

             ``Shortage'' of Information Technology Workers

       There is no universally accepted definition of information 
     technology (IT) workers or what training is required for the 
     jobs. So industry defined IT worker broadly when trying to 
     demonstrate a demand for IT workers and defined the training 
     required very narrowly.
       Demand for IT Workers: The Information Technology 
     Association of America (ITAA) and Commerce reports found that 
     between 1996-2006 the US will require 1.3 million job 
     openings because of growth and net replacements (1.1 million 
     of which is for growth alone). That is a 14.5% increase.
       ``Shortage:'' ITAA and Commerce defined the pool of 
     qualified IT workers as those who have obtained a Bachelor's 
     degree in computer and information science. They did not 
     consider degrees and certifications in computer and 
     information science other than a B.A., degrees in other 
     areas, or workers who could be retrained. In 1993, only 25% 
     of those employed in IT actually had a B.A. in computer and 
     information science. Other workers had degrees in business, 
     social sciences, math, engineering, psychology, economics, 
     and education.
       Basis for ITAA's and Commerce's Conclusions and Response: 
     (1) Wages for IT workers are going up, but no more than in 
     any other professional field (the labor supply always 
     tightens in a good economy), (2) there are unfilled jobs, but 
     a response of only 14% of those surveyed is not sufficient to 
     conclude that this is a nationwide problem (need at least 75% 
     response to be credible), and (3) there is offshore 
     recruiting occurring, but no information as to the extent or 
     magnitude.
       Response to survey: ITAA sent out a random sample of 2,000 
     large-sized, mid-sized, and non-IT companies, but only heard 
     from 271 (14%). A 75% response is required to make credible 
     extrapolations, or nationwide generalizations. Also, there is 
     no information on these reported vacancies such as how long 
     the jobs were open, wage being offered, and how the company 
     is attempting to fill them.
       Decrease in computer Science B.A. Candidates: There has 
     been a decline since 1986 but that was the peak year. There 
     had been a steady increase from 1970s and it has remained 
     stable in the 1990s.

   H-1-B Visas: The Stealth Way of Taking U.S. Jobs From U.S. Workers

       Do you remember when we were promised that by passing NAFTA 
     and GATT, Americans might lose low-wage jobs, but would 
     definitely gain high-wage jobs? Well, they are changing their 
     story . . . again.
       The high technology industry is telling us that there is a 
     shortage of information technology workers in the U.S. and an 
     inability to ever meet the demand. The High Tech Industry 
     wants to open the doors to temporary foreign professional 
     workers by issuing something called H-1-B visas. Currently we 
     issue up to 65,000 H-1-B visas per year. Increasing the 
     number of these visas issued could quickly result in surplus 
     labor and rapidly dropping wages.
       A little over two years ago this same industry was laying 
     off U.S. computer programmers by the hundreds and replacing 
     them with cheaper foreign workers. Their story was Americans 
     got paid too much and temporary foreign workers should be 
     used to keep down wages or else the work would go abroad. 
     Some jobs did go abroad, but the high technology industry is 
     still unsatisfied. Our country's most highly skilled, sought-
     after, domestic technology workers have realized how valuable 
     their knowledge is and have started shopping around for the 
     best available wage packages. The industry, unwilling to pay 
     the going wage for U.S. workers, has declared a labor 
     shortage and is demanding more H-1-B visas to keep wages 
     down.
       High-Tech Corporate America would be the winner: it could 
     make more money and continue to treat its workers with 
     disdain, dumping them in every temporary downturn in the 
     economy and refusing to invest in job training. The losers 
     will be our young people who are looking for jobs in 
     technology, older workers who may need retraining, and 
     taxpayers who will pay to train U.S. workers only to have 
     them become surplus labor.
       There may be a lot of posturing and panic, but there is no 
     evidence of a shortage. Though industry and the Commerce 
     Department have produced studies claiming there is a 
     shortage, the General Accounting Office found that ``serious 
     analytical and methodological weaknesses'' undermine the 
     Commerce report's credibility. Every year, this country 
     produces approximately 650,000 bachelor's degrees in science 
     and engineering; 120,000 master's degrees; and 40,000 
     doctorates for a total of 810,000. Any one of these degrees 
     could be used to develop a career in information technology. 
     However, a degree is not absolutely necessary to succeed in 
     this field. After all, Bill Gates dropped out of college and 
     then created Microsoft.
       Furthermore, an employer does not have to look for a U.S. 
     worker before applying for an H-1-B worker. So even if there 
     are hundreds of talented U.S. workers available, an employer 
     can apply to hire a temporary foreign worker without any 
     negative consequences.
       It is too risky to raise temporary foreign worker quotas 
     before anyone has clearly defined and quantified a problem. 
     Once H-1-B visas are increased, it will be very hard to bring 
     the number back down again. These temporary programs quickly 
     become permanent ones that send negative signals to our own 
     workers. They say--you can train, but we will still import 
     our workers.
       The technology industry appears to be booming and has been 
     posting record earnings for several years. Let's allow 
     America's most skilled workers to ``boom'' with it.

            INFO Tech Worker Shortage? Where's the Evidence?

       Dear Colleague: For months we have been bombarded with 
     stories from the information technology industry about a 
     terrible shortage of skilled professionals. They argue that 
     Congress must expand the temporary foreign worker program to 
     meet their needs. Three studies have been cited to prove the 
     case--one by the Commerce Department and two by the 
     Information Technology Association of America. Based on these 
     reports, legislation to increase the number of foreign 
     technical workers has already been introduced in the Senate 
     and is expected soon in the House.
       The problem is the reports are wrong.
       Claim #1: The Commerce Department found a shortage of 
     information technology workers based on the (flawed) ITAA 
     studies and its own back-of-the-envelope calculation that 
     there will be 95,000 new jobs created annually in industry 
     with only 25,000 new computer science college graduates each 
     year.
       Response: The General Accounting Office noted that 
     ``serious analytical and methodological weaknesses'' 
     undermine the Commerce report's credibility. Only 29% of IT 
     workers have come from computer science with graduates in 
     math, science, social science, education and business filling 
     the remaining positions.
       Claim #2: In 1997, ITAA claimed 190,000 unfilled IT jobs. 
     In January, ITAA claimed 346,000 unfilled jobs based on 
     another survey--a claim that also got widespread press 
     attention.
       Response: GAO states that ``to make sound generalizations, 
     the effective response rate should usually be at least 75 
     percent.'' Because the first ITAA survey had only a 14 
     percent response rate, GAO found it ``is inadequate to form a 
     basis for a nationwide estimate of unfilled IT jobs.'' This 
     second survey was done by a self-described marketing 
     researcher with no experience in labor studies. Further, ITAA 
     has never released the study so we can't evaluate the 
     methodology. However, we know that the newest ITAA study

[[Page H2600]]

     had a response rate of 36%--far too low for accurate 
     projections.
       Claim #3: The demand for IT workers will double in the next 
     10 years and there will not be enough of a supply of U.S. 
     workers to meet it.
       Response: Who says we can't meet it? The demand for IT 
     workers doubled over the last 10 years and it was satisfied 
     right here in the U.S. by people from a wide variety of 
     educational backgrounds. At least half of the jobs require a 
     two-year college degree or less. Let the demand double again. 
     With well-planned policies of training and education and the 
     natural market response of Americans looking for good jobs 
     that pay well, we will meet that demand again.
       What is the ITAA's excuse for these bad numbers? Their only 
     response is to stop ``arguing over methodology'' so we can 
     fix a problem that they can't even document. Could it be that 
     foreign workers are cheaper, and they are trying to pull one 
     over on Congress so they can cut their costs?
       Before we invite thousands of foreign workers in to take 
     American jobs, the industry owes us some straight answers.
     Ron Klink.

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