-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- From: "Linda Muller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date sent: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 10:20:38 -0400 Subject: [BRIGADE] H-1b Visas - Whose Country is It Anyway? Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear Brigade, "Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced a bill to increase the number of H-1B visas to at least 175,000 a year for an unlimited time. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., has a proposal for a visa to let an unlimited number of foreign graduates of American universities work in the country for five years... In late September, Sen. Chuck Robb, D-Va., proposed creating a separate temporary visa category - the Tech Visa - for foreign students who have received high-tech degrees from U.S. universities...." Pat Buchanan: "Now, when one considers that the defense industry has laid off tens of thousands and the United States is the most technologically advanced nation on Earth, the wail of Silicon Valley seems absurd. Out of 265 million Americans, they can't find 50,000 qualified Americans? ... The truth is that Silicon Valley, if it has to, will find and train Americans for those jobs. It simply prefers foreign workers. Why? Because they're younger, their expectations are lower, they can be paid less and are content with less, they are totally dependent on the company to keep them in the country, and they are less trouble than independent-minded American workers...." Below please find: 1. Bills would add foreign workers in U.S. [10/8/99 - Charlotte Observer] 2. Whose Country is is Anyway [PJB 8/18/98] 3. H-1b Increase Betrays American Workers [PJB Release 7/2/99] The GOP/DEM sell-out of American workers continues. GO PAT GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Linda ---------------------------------------- http://www.charlotte.com - October 8, 1999 Bills would add foreign workers in U.S. Carolinas firms have stake in visa limit By AUDREY Y. WILLIAMS The battle many companies are fighting to find highly skilled workers - especially for technology jobs - has spilled over into Congress. Within the past three months, three federal lawmakers have introduced bills to boost the number of temporary work visas that U.S. companies can use to hire foreign nationals. Many Carolinas companies and trade associations are watching the proposed legislation that addresses the limits set on the visas, called H-1B's. "If somebody has a position to fill, they try to fill it with the best person they can. Some of those folks are from other countries," said Joan Myers, president of the Raleigh-based N.C. Electronics and Information Technologies Association, a 300-member trade group. "We want to keep jobs in North Carolina and not move them offshore. But if the restrictions are unduly troublesome and we can't fill that job, that's what's going to happen." In June - less than seven months after Congress raised the annual cap to 115,000 from 65,000 - the H-1B visa program reached capacity. Although current law sets the limit at 115,000, it returns the number to 65,000 in 2002. The visas let companies hire people from abroad to work in the United States for six years. Many industries use H-1B visas, including manufacturing and financial services, but the high-tech industry is usually associated with them. That's probably because it's facing a shortage of skilled workers that's more acute than other industries and the visas are a helpful tool, experts said. Nationwide, unfilled high-tech jobs top 346,000, according to the Information Technology Association of America. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the demand for some computer-related jobs will more than double by 2006. Most high-tech companies with Carolinas workers won't discuss how the visa cap affects them, but companies such as Cisco Systems, Solectron and IBM are likely to be in situations where they may want to use the visas. So is the Research Triangle Institute in Research Triangle Park, a research and development company that does work for the government and private sector. "Right now it's affecting us most when it comes to hiring statisticians to do health research and engineers to do (research and development) on pollution control technologies," said Reid Maness, director of communications at the institute where two-thirds of the 1,650 employees have advanced degrees. Maness wouldn't say how many were hired under the temporary visas. "We're not talking about taking a job from somebody else," Maness said. "We look to hire the best qualified person. The ability to recruit people with advanced degrees is essential to our success." Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced a bill to increase the number of H-1B visas to at least 175,000 a year for an unlimited time. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., has a proposal for a visa to let an unlimited number of foreign graduates of American universities work in the country for five years. In late September, Sen. Chuck Robb, D-Va., proposed creating a separate temporary visa category - the Tech Visa - for foreign students who have received high-tech degrees from U.S. universities. A recent study by the California-based American Electronics Association said rapid job growth, low unemployment rates and fewer college graduates with advanced degrees in high-tech subjects is at the root of the tech-worker shortage. The association says almost half of high-tech doctorate degrees go to foreign nationals. And the total number of students with high-tech degrees dropped 5 percent between 1990 and 1996. "We don't have enough people graduating with the degrees we need to fill the gap," said Thom Stohler, director of work force policy for the American Electronics Association. The H-1B program is a target for many pro-labor movement groups and federal lawmakers, who say it allows eligible companies to employ foreign nationals at substandard pay and work conditions. Some say tech companies aren't working hard enough to get skilled U.S. workers. "Some companies have gotten spoiled," said AFL-CIO spokesman Jack Golodner. Charlotte immigration lawyer Alan Gordon, ,said if his clients - many are Fortune 500 companies - would hire American workers if they could find them. . In 1997, the then-65,000 limit was reached in August. In 1998 the visas ran out in April. This year, the first with the 115,000-limit, they still ran out in June. The federal government's fiscal year runs from October through September. One industry expert said some businesses have set up offshore development centers or opened wholly owned subsidiaries overseas to meet their tech needs. And he expects a growing number of companies - including some not in tech industries - to use offshore providers for their staffing needs. "In the interim, offshore outsourcing provides one of the only alternatives," said Marty McCaffrey, who has tracked tech industries for more than 15 years. Software Ventures International is a Philippines-based offshore provider, whose U.S. subsidiary, SVI America, is in Charlotte. The company develops applications systems and does computer maintenance work for Fortune 500 companies. GE Equity and Citicorp Securities are both equity investors in SVI. "Without an immediate pool of people that can be tapped, projects can get delayed and business can be affected," said Ramon Sicam, senior vice president and general manager of SVI America. The American Electronics Association supports raising the cap for H-1B's, but says that's a short-term solution. The backlog of H-1B visa requests is estimated at 80,000. That could mean this fiscal year visas might dry up as early as February 2000, industry experts said. "The long-term solution is to improve America's education system so that there will be enough people to go around," Stohler said. "Otherwise, we're not going to get enough workers." -------------------------------------------- Whose Country is It Anyway? by Patrick J. Buchanan - August 18, 1998 There are two ways to get rid of American workers. One is to export their jobs and factories overseas and hire foreign labor there. The other is to keep the factory here but bring in the foreign workers to replace Americans in their own country....Again, the GOP is facing a stark choice: Will it stand with the rich of Silicon Valley, who provide much of the soft money at election time? Or will it side with the American workers whose birthright is being taken from them and given to folks from foreign lands?... In the national argument over the rules and regulations that should govern the U.S. economy, there was always one agreed-upon principle: We must decide based on what is best for Americans. Economic patriotism, however, is dying in America. If you do not believe it, consider the impending sellout of America's high-tech workers -- to appease the computer titans of Silicon Valley. A decade ago, Silicon Valley demanded and got what is known as the H-1B program, granting U.S. residency to 65,000 high-skilled foreign workers every year to fill jobs in the industry. Two-thirds of a million "computer braceros," mostly Chinese and South Asians, have snapped up these jobs that would otherwise have gone to U.S. citizens. So addicted has Silicon Valley become to its braceros that this year it is demanding that Congress raise the annual quota to 115,000. Why not hire Americans for these jobs where the average pay is $50,000? Not enough Americans can do them! comes the reply. Well, why not hire from the pool of 1 million legal immigrants who enter the United States yearly? They don't have the skills either! is the retort. Now, when one considers that the defense industry has laid off tens of thousands and the United States is the most technologically advanced nation on Earth, the wail of Silicon Valley seems absurd. Out of 265 million Americans, they can't find 50,000 qualified Americans? The truth is that Silicon Valley, if it has to, will find and train Americans for those jobs. It simply prefers foreign workers. Why? Because they're younger, their expectations are lower, they can be paid less and are content with less, they are totally dependent on the company to keep them in the country, and they are less trouble than independent-minded American workers. So widespread is the practice of hiring foreign workers in the computer industry that American applicants are sometimes asked if they would feel comfortable working in an "Asian environment." On a few occasions, American programmers have been asked to help train the foreign workers brought in to replace them. Now, if one's highest loyalty is to the bottom line on a balance sheet, what Silicon Valley is doing in de-Americanizing its labor force makes sense. And there are two ways to get rid of American workers. One is to export their jobs and factories overseas and hire foreign labor there. The other is to keep the factory here but bring in the foreign workers to replace Americans in their own country. U.S. corporations, which now proudly call themselves "global companies," are pursuing both strategies. What is astonishing is to see a Republican Congress collaborate with these globalists and help facilitate the de- Americanization of their labor force. Before Congress adjourns in October, it will vote on whether to raise the annual quota of H-1B foreign workers to 115,000. The Senate has approved. But the White House, to President Clinton's credit, has said that it will not sign an expansion of the H-1B program unless the bill contains provisions whereby companies "attest" that they have not fired an American to hire a foreign worker and the firms agree to set up a program to train Americans for future openings. Well, this has really set the cat down among the pigeons of Silicon Valley. Before hiring foreign workers, these firms would have to attest that they have been telling the truth, i.e, that there are just not enough qualified Americans around. But that is going to be difficult to do, since the industry has been laying off Americans, there are an estimated 50 applications for every job opening in Silicon Valley, and computer courses in U.S. colleges are jammed with young people. The truth is the U.S. free market will solve any labor shortage Silicon Valley has, if only we will let it work for Americans. Before bringing in foreign labor to take jobs that could provide a wonderful future for hundreds of thousands of our young people, why not let the market work? Again, the GOP is facing a stark choice: Will it stand with the rich of Silicon Valley, who provide much of the soft money at election time? Or will it side with the American workers whose birthright is being taken from them and given to folks from foreign lands? Who is the American economy for, if not the American people? And which comes first -- our countrymen or the Global Economy? The H-1B program should be phased out, which would force Silicon Valley to do what it ought to have been doing for a decade -- hiring, training and promoting Americans. After all, whose country is it anyway? ------------------------------------------ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 2, 1999 - 11:04 AM BUCHANAN: H-1B INCREASE BETRAYS AMERICAN WORKERS WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Republican Presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan released the following statement: "In 1998, after a fundraising tour of Silicon Valley, the Clinton-Gore Administration doubled, to 115,000, the number of H-1B high-tech foreign workers who could be brought into the United States every year. "Yesterday, after his own highly successful buck-raking tour of the Valley, Governor George W. Bush proposed yet another steep hike in that annual immigration flow. Said Bush, 'The limit on H-1B visas should be raised.' "The elite of both parties are now in an unseemly competition to see who can do more to pander to the super-rich by selling out the American worker. There is no shortage of Americans who qualify for these $50,000 and $75,000-a year high-tech jobs; there is no shortage of young Americans in college, preparing for these jobs. "To allow Silicon Valley to import scores of thousands more foreign workers every year, to take the jobs of the future that would otherwise go to Americans, represents a betrayal of the American middle class by a selfish slice of our corporate elite. Unfortunately, that corporate elite has both Beltway parties snuggly in its wallet pocket. "In American politics today, it would seem there is nothing that is not on the table, nothing not for sale for campaign cash, including the American dream of our middle-class and the future of America's young." ------------- end ------------- Spread the word -- forward this email across the USA! ********************************************** Don't Miss Out - Join the BRIGADE Email List! 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