Eric Thomas 202-822-9491 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 22, 2007

Compete America Applauds New Democrat Coalition for Leadership on Visa Reform for Highly Educated Professionals

Democratic House Members Call for H-1B Visa and EB Green Card Reform in Letter to House Democratic Leadership

For a complete copy of the letter, click here.

Washington D.C. – Compete America today applauded the New Democrat Coalition for urging the Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives to complete action this year on reform of the visa system for highly educated foreign-born professionals.  In their letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, members for the Coalition stated:

“We are writing to request that the House of Representatives take action this year to resolve the immediate talent crisis that is facing U.S. employers.  The United States is struggling to produce enough highly skilled, highly educated experts in fields that are absolutely essential to American competitiveness:  science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and others.  Meanwhile, our outdated visa programs for the most highly skilled workers from abroad are hopelessly out of line with the needs of the U.S. economy.  U.S. employers have no way to get the talent they need, and our country’s competitive edge is at risk.  There are many legislative reforms that could be taken, both short and long term.  If America is to remain a worldwide leader in innovation, the New Democrat Coalition strongly believes Congress must act to alleviate the talent crisis before we adjourn this year.”

The Members specifically endorsed the following reforms:

• Modernizing student visa programs;
  
  
• Aligning the supply of H-1B visas for professional workers with the needs of U.S. employers so that the visa supply can respond to market demands;
  
  
• Bringing the supply of employment-based green cards into line with the needs of U.S. employers;
  
  
• Recapturing” authorized but unused green card numbers; and
  
  
• Strengthening agencies’ ability to enforce visa program rules and punish violators.

“The demise of comprehensive immigration reform does not change reduce the urgency for congressional action this year on skilled immigration reform” said Robert Hoffman, Vice President for Government and Public Affairs at Oracle and Co-Chair of Compete America. “We are grateful to the New Democrats for their leadership – which is one more example of wide bipartisan support on the issue.  Congress must act now to ensure continued growth in America’s innovation economy.”

New Democrats signing the letter include: Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Adam Smith (D-WA), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Artur Davis (D-AL), Ron Kind (D-WI), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Dennis Moore (D-KS), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jim Moran (D-VA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Susan Davis (D-CA), Lois Capps (D-CA), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Christopher Carney (D-PA), Michael Arcuri (D-NY), and David Wu (D-OR).

For more information on how highly educated immigration benefits America, please visit www.competeamerica.org. 

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.
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