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Contact: Eric Thomas, 202-822-9491

July 26, 2011

Compete America Praises Senators Schumer and Cornyn for Focus on Immigration Reform as Part of U.S. Economic Growth and Job Creation Strategy

Four Coalition Members Testify at Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing on the Importance of Highly Educated Immigrants to America’s Innovation Future

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 the world in innovation and job creation, today applauded Chairman Charles Schumer (D-NY), Ranking Member John Cornyn (R-TX) and all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security for highlighting the critical role that employment-based immigration reform plays in advancing U.S. economic growth and job creation.

In a statement submitted for the record, Compete America outlined four major areas for reform:

• Reform and increase employment-based green cards;
• End per country limit inequity;
• Capture top STEM talent graduating from U.S. universities; and
• Preserve access to temporary foreign workers.

“…[T]he highly skilled immigration system shows great promise as a powerful tool in America’s economic recovery.  Beginning with [these] reforms …, we can unlock the potential of highly educated immigrants as entrepreneurs, innovators and job creators,” the Compete America statement concluded.

Compete America members – representing industry, academia and the highly educated, foreign-born professionals stuck in the broken system themselves – testified at the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, and echoed the coalition’s long-advocated message that America needs an employment-based green card and visa system that promotes, not hinders, U.S. growth and competitiveness. 

“Reform is long overdue, and postponing it only works against the national interest,” testified Brad Smith, General Counsel and Senior Vice President at Microsoft Corporation, a Compete America member company.  “Microsoft especially appreciates the recognition that a new policy approach to attracting the world’s talent into our workforce is critical if we are to both keep and grow jobs in this country.”   

“We need to create a streamlined green card process for international students who graduate with STEM degrees from U.S. universities.  Applications for permanent residency from highly educated, foreign-born students who have earned advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics should be expedited for the good of the individual and our nation,” said Cornell University President David J. Skorton, who also testified today.  Cornell is a member of the Association of American Universities, a Compete America member.

“Making our legal immigration system work for us will raise revenue, increase our productivity, create very good jobs and make us more competitive,” explained Robert Greifeld, CEO and President of NASDAQ OMX, in his testimony.  NASDAQ OMX is a member of TechNet, a Compete America member association.

“With a serious commitment to reforming our employment-based green card system, I believe highly skilled immigrants can help America return to prosperity, creating jobs and growing our economy through innovation,” testified Immigration Voice Vice President Dr. Puneet S. Arora.  Immigration Voice, a national grassroots non-profit organization of over 60,000 active highly skilled immigrants, is also a Compete America member.

“We applaud Chairman Schumer, Ranking Member Cornyn and all members of the Subcommittee for recognizing that America’s employment-based green card and visa systems must work for U.S. job creation and economic growth, not against it,” said Compete America Executive Director Scott Corley. “This is a critical issue for our members, as exampled by our strong showing of support at the hearing today, and we look forward to working with all stakeholders to advance bipartisan reforms this year.”

To learn more about the benefits of highly educated, foreign-born professionals to the U.S. economy, visit http://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.