NEWS CONTACTS: Eric Thomas or Frances Cox (202) 822-9491 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 3, 2005

Compete America Applauds Overwhelming Senate Vote to Remedy H-1B and Employment-Based Visa Crisis

Defeat of Byrd Amendment Paves Way for Temporary Fix in Budget Reconciliation Bill

Washington, D.C. - Compete America today applauded the U.S. Senate vote affirming the severe crisis facing U.S. employers with limited or no access to H-1B and employment-based visas. The vote to reject an amendment offered by Senator Robert Byrd (D-VW) that would have stripped the addition of more employment-based and H-1B visas from the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 failed on an 85-14 vote.

"The Senate has taken a very important step in acknowledging that a real crisis exists for U.S. employers. America has always benefited from the contributions of highly educated foreign professionals. Without additional access to H-1B visas and green cards, American innovation and competitiveness will surely suffer," said Sandra Boyd, Vice President, National Association of Manufacturers and Compete America Chair.

"We are grateful to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and to Chairman Specter and Ranking Member Leahy for their leadership in moving the Senate in the right direction on this issue. We look forward to final Senate approval and to working with the House of Representatives towards adoption of a similar measure," Boyd concluded.

The Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 includes the following measures critical to easing the visa shortage, while raising significant Federal revenue:

• The measure would "recapture" employment-based (green card) immigrant visa numbers that were available by statute but unused in previous years because of INS processing backlogs, and make them available again at a rate of up to 90,000;

• The measure would provide that only employment-based immigrants, and not their spouses and children, would count toward the annual limit on employment-based immigration; and

• It would "recapture" H-1B visa numbers that were available by statute but unused in previous years, and make them available again at a rate of up to 30,000 per year.

Compete America (www.competeamerica.org) is a coalition of more than 200 corporations, universities, 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.

###