No, I think he's referring to the old F-1, student visa that allowed you to also do 1yr post-grad working in US. Might have a different label now but different from H-1b.
I believe you are correct. If we are going to educate these whiz's, why not keep them?
Heck, all we'd really have to do is come up with real(!) enforcement of pay scales for H1b's, maybe even require they be paid 120% of what citizens would get, combined with a few high profile high penalty prosecutions of employer violators, and we would not need any limits on them at all, but would still get the benefits of hiring the really smart ones.