H1B Bill Introduced in Senate

(February 13, 2000) Yet another bill has been introduced in the Congress to alleviate the shortage of high tech workers. This bill, sponsored by Senators Hatch, Abraham, Gramm, and others, would temporarily increase the annual cap on H1B visas to 195,000.

S 2045 IS, American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act, was introduced on Wednesday, February 9. It would increase the annual cap on H1B visas to 195,000 for FY 2000, 2001, and 2002.

The annual cap on H1B visas is 65,000. However, in late 1998 the Congress passed, and the President signed, a bill which temporarily increased the cap to 115,000 in FY 1999 and 2000, and 107,500 in 2001.

Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-MI) led the effort in the Senate to pass that bill, and is a lead cosponsor of the current bill.

The bill would also exempt from these numerical caps any H1B visas issued to people employed at an "institution of higher education", or a "related or affiliated nonprofit entity" or "a nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization" who have recently received a "master's degree or higher degree" from an American university.

Also, the bill would increase the portability of H1B visa status, thus making it easier for high tech workers to accept employment from competing companies. It would also provide for the recovery of fraudulently obtained visas.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the lead sponsor of the bill, had this to say:

"It is clear that in the short term we need to raise the limits of the number of temporary visas for highly skilled labor.  Our bill does this by increasing the cap on H-1B visas to 195,000 visas over each of the next three years.  We also exempt persons who come to work in our universities and persons who have recently received advanced degrees in our educational institutions from the cap."

Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-MI)

Sen. Abraham stated that "Critics of the last H-1B visa increase have been proven spectacularly wrong, as the U.S. economy added 387,000 new jobs in January and the unemployment rate dropped to a 30-year low of 4 percent. Specialty jobs in the computer industry alone are projected to grow by 1.5 million between 1998 and 2008, according to the Department of Labor."

"Because of skilled labor shortages, an increasing number of highly productive firms have had to curtail their economic activities and/or move offshore," said Sen. Abraham.

"As e-commerce and other forms of high technology become increasingly integrated throughout our economy, the long-term solution to our dilemma will be for earlier and better training for our young people to qualify them for high-tech tasks. But we are losing productivity and opportunities for growth right now. If we are to maintain our high-tech edge in an increasingly competitive global market, we must find the skilled workers we need wherever we can."

The introduction of the bill earned immediate praise from industry groups.

"Increasing the availability of highly skilled workers to American technology firms is one of the most positive steps Congress can take this year toward continuing the robust growth of the New Economy," said Harris Miller, President of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). "Such an expansion of the H1-B program will grow the American economy, build American businesses, and protect American competitiveness in world markets-all while working to assure fairness for the information technology industry's most important asset-the American worker. We ask for Congress to enact this bill quickly, and President Clinton to sign it into law."

"The demand for American workers with technical skills exceeds the supply," said Ali Cleveland, of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "It is imperative that the arbitrary cap on high-skilled workers be raised as a short-term solution to the growing worker shortage in this country."

S 2045 has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Sen. Hatch chairs. In addition, Sen. Abraham chairs its Immigration Subcommittee.

The initial sponsors of S 2045 are Orrin Hatch, Spencer Abraham, Phil Gramm (R-TX), Bob Graham (D-FL), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Trent Lott (R-MS),  Don Nickles (R-OK), Connie Mack (R-FL), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Slade Gorton (R-WA), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Bob Bennett (R-UT), Rod Grams (R-MN), John Ashcroft (R-MO), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Gordon Smith (R-OR), and John Warner (R-VA).