FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                       

Contact: Eric Thomas, 202-822-9491

June 14, 2011

Compete America Praises Introduction of Employment-based Immigration Reform Bill

Coalition Commends Representative Lofgren for Continued Leadership on Issue That’s Key to U.S. Job Creation and Economic Growth

Washington, D.C. – Compete America, a coalition dedicated to ensuring that the United States has the highly educated workforce it needs to continue to lead in innovation and job creation, issued the following statement today regarding the introduction of the Immigration Driving Entrepreneurship in America Act of 2011, or the IDEA Act of 2011:

“We thank Representative Lofgren for her ongoing efforts to advance employment-based immigration reform today by introducing the IDEA Act of 2011.  Her thoughtful approach advances needed reforms that American employers can use to create U.S. jobs, grow the economy and ensure that our nation maintains world innovation leadership.

“The legislation is chock-full of positive fixes to a deeply flawed and broken green card system.  Among its highlights, the bill would streamline the process for critical employees to obtain permanent status in the United States; it would reduce the backlog for existing highly educated workers in the United States waiting for green cards; and it would make it simpler for foreign-born students educated by U.S. universities to work in the United States and contribute to job creation and economic growth.

“Representative Lofgren has been and remains a steadfast supporter and leader on high-skilled immigration issues.  We look forward to continuing to work with her and her colleagues to advance highly skilled reforms, improve and perfect certain provisions within the legislation and build bipartisan consensus in Congress for permanent solutions this year.

“Again, we thank Representative Lofgren for her continued commitment to the American workforce and innovation.”

To learn more about the benefits of highly educated foreign-born professionals to the U.S. economy, visit www.competeamerica.org.

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Compete America (www.competeamerica.org) is a coalition of corporations, educators, research institutions and trade associations concerned about legal, employment-based immigration and committed to ensuring that the United States has the highly educated workforce necessary to ensure continued innovation, job creation and leadership in a worldwide economy.