Senate Expected to OK More High-Tech Visas
W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 3, 2000 -- Election-year legislation to allow high-tech companies to bring in up to 200,000 foreign workers annually faces hurdles in the House despite overwhelming Senate support for the measure.
A bill for raising the ceiling on H-1B visas to 200,000high-tech workers in each of the next three years never made it outof committee in the House.
An alternate House bill, vehemently opposed by softwarecompanies, would lift the ceiling entirely on the six-year visasbut condition them to employers’ paying the immigrants at least$40,000 a year and not using them to replace Americans on theirpayrolls. It was approved by the House Judiciary Committee.
Under present law, the government issued 115,000 H-1B visasduring the fiscal year that ended Saturday for skilled workers fromabroad. With no new legislation the ceiling would fall to 107,500this year and to 65,000 next year.
Unqualified Workers vs. Lower Wages
Technology companies contend that 300,000 jobs are goingunfilled for lack of qualified workers; labor unions argue thecompanies want more immigrants to put downward pressure on thewages of Americans holding the same jobs.
The Senate was voting on its version of the H-1B visa billTuesday after defeating efforts last week by several Democrats toamend it with other immigration measures that would allow moreillegal aliens and political refugees to remain in the UnitedStates.
Senate leaders of both parties have predicted the bill would beapproved overwhelmingly.
“I suspect when we get to a final vote here, it will be 90 to10,” Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said.
Despite bipartisan support for letting high-tech companies — major campaign contributors to both parties this election — hiremore immigrants, House Republicans have disagreed among themselveson how to do it.
The bill approved by the Judiciary Committee would requirecompanies using the visas to increase the median pay of their U.S.workers in addition to establishing job projections for them.
“I am disappointed that the Senate would increase the number offoreign high-tech workers without including any safeguards forAmerican workers,” said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chief sponsorof the Judiciary panel’s measure.
Election-Year Tactics
Reps. David Dreier, R-Calif., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., aresponsoring House legislation supported by high-tech companies andsimilar to the Senate bill. GOP leaders have refused to bring itout of committee for fear that Democrats would try to use it toforce votes on other immigration measures and make opponents appearanti-Hispanic in an election year.
Democrats in both chambers said last week they will try to putsome of the measures in one of the spending bills that Congressmust pass before adjourning for the year. They include provisionsto grant amnesty to illegal immigrants who arrived in the UnitedStates before 1987 and offer permanent residency to more politicalrefugees from Central America and Haiti.
“From a public policy point of view, it worries me thatcomputer whizzes have more value and dignity than a person whocleans toilets or is a gardener,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.
The visa bills are S.2045, H.R. 3183 and H.R. 4227. (See Web links at side.)