Eric Thomas or Frances Cox 202/822-9491 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 19, 2008

Compete America Endorses H-1B Visa Improvements Included in “Innovation Employment Act”

Rep. Giffords’ H.R. 5630 Would Rid System of Arbitrary Caps, Improve Access to Graduates

Washington D.C. – Compete America applauded the introduction of the “Innovation Employment Act” (H.R. 5630) by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ).  The bill would make several important adjustments to current limits on H-1B visas for highly educated foreign-born professionals, while calling for sensible measures to address any abuse of the program. 

Compete America cited as one of the critical provisions included in H.R. 5630 an increase in the current H-1B base cap of 65,000 a year to 130,000 a year, starting in Fiscal Year 2009.   In following years, the cap could vary depending on market demand, not to exceed 180,000 visas.  These numbers are in line with current demand, as last year’s allocation of 65,000 visas was hit on the very first day applications were accepted – with the U.S. Citizenship andImmigration Services receiving at least twice as many applications as available visas.

In addition, the “Innovation Employment Act” would provide an exemption to the H-1B cap for foreign students receiving advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics from U.S. universities.  The current cap on these students of 20,000 per year would instead be applied to similar graduates of foreign universities.

“We are grateful that Representative Giffords and many others in Congress have acknowledged a significant and growing problem and are taking necessary steps to remedy the threat to U.S. competitiveness and job growth,” said Robert Hoffman, Vice President for Government and Public Affairs at Oracle and Co-Chair of Compete America.  “For far too long, the U.S. innovation economy has been hampered by arbitrary visa caps.  The improvements to the H-1B program proposed in this bill are therefore needed to address immediate access to talent.  Although H.R. 5630 does not address employment-based green cards, those measures are critically important as well.  While the shortage of skilled workers must be addressed through better education, immediate remedies – such as those proposed in H.R. 5630 – are also necessary.”

Hoffman also applauded the enforcement measures included in the legislation, stating: “If bad actors are abusing a program designed specifically to provide temporary highly educated workers, we want it stopped.  Compete America endorses the safeguards against fraud and misrepresentation included in the ‘Innovation Employment Act.’”  

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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