NEWS CONTACTS: Eric Thomas or Frances Cox (202) 822-9491 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 30, 2006

Compete America Urges House Action to Alleviate Shortage of H-1B Visas and Severe Backlogs in Green Card System

U.S. Competitiveness at Stake

Washington, D.C. - Compete America today urged the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims to thoughtfully consider all aspects of the problems facing U.S. employers of highly educated foreign nationals. This includes both the arbitrary and insufficient quantities of H-1B visas allotted by Congress, as well as the untenable process for tens of thousands of valued U.S. employees now seeking permanent, legal residence through the employment-based visa (green card) system.

"We urge the House of Representatives to consider legislation that would fix an outdated, arbitrary and counterproductive immigration system that hurts U.S. competitiveness by making it too hard for highly educated, sought after foreign professionals to come to the United States to legally live and work," said Sandra Boyd, National Association of Manufacturers Human Resources Policy Vice President and Compete America Chair. "A meaningful solution must include relief for both the H-1B shortage as well as significant streamlining of the green card process."

Compete America commended Subcommittee Chairman John Hostettler (R-IN) and Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) for today's hearing on H-1B visas, but cautioned that a more thorough examination of the crisis in the employment-based immigrant visas / green card system will be necessary if the Subcommittee is to gain perspective on the breadth of the crisis facing U.S. employers and tens of thousands of U.S. workers.

Both the H-1B and EB (green card) visa programs have been responsible for bringing much needed foreign talent to live and work in the United States, and most importantly, to make significant contributions to the U.S. economy and U.S. global competitiveness.

"Neither system is working. H-1B shortages are well documented, and the backlogs in the green card system are only getting worse, forcing thousands of valued foreign-born professionals - including researchers, scientists, teachers and engineers - into legal and professional limbo for years. Congress must act this year to fix a broken system," Boyd concluded.

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.

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