Posted on 03/22/2008 10:46:50 AM PDT by The Sons of Liberty
Thank you for contacting me to share your views on increasing the number of H-1B visas. I appreciate hearing from you.
Like most countries of the world, the United States limits the type and number of foreign workers who can enter our country. As you know, H-1B visas are used by foreign nationals who will be employed temporarily in a specialty occupation due to their skilled knowledge. H-1B visas have several safeguards for not displacing American workers, such as requiring employers to attest to the lack of an available U.S. worker with proper skills and requiring employers to pay a prevailing wage. During the 108 th Congress, when I was Chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, I successfully included a requirement in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-447) for an additional $500 anti-fraud fee for each H-1B application. The fee better enables the government to detect and prevent fraud in the system.
The economic prosperity of the 1990s fueled a drive to increase the levels of employment-based immigration. Both the Congress and the Federal Reserve Board then expressed concern that a scarcity of labor could curtail the pace of economic growth. A primary response was to increase the supply of foreign temporary professional workers through fiscal year 2003. When the H-1B annual numerical limits reverted to 65,000 in fiscal year 2005, that limit was reached on the first day. The fiscal year 2006 limit was reached before the fiscal year began, and on June 1, 2006, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the fiscal year 2007 H-1B cap had been reached.
In math, science, and engineering, 50 percent or more of the post-graduate degrees at U.S. universities are awarded to foreign nationals. It is counterproductive for the U.S. to train foreign scientists and engineers and then send them all home to compete against American businesses. However, we must take the necessary steps to encourage U.S. students to pursue careers in these fields. T he education of students and retraining of the current workforce is a long-term approach and I believe H-1B visas can be used as a bridge to fill today's job openings until sufficient numbers of U.S. students can be trained for these specialized positions.
Balance is required between the needs of U.S. employers and employment opportunities for U.S. residents. H-1B workers are essential if the United States is to remain globally competitive. Employers should be free to hire the best candidate for a job thus allowing market forces to regulate H-1B visas, not an arbitrary ceiling. However, we must maintain laws and procedures that protect U.S. workers from being displaced by our immigration system.
You are right. Corporate America cannot get enough less expensive Asian workers to America or fast enough. My wife works in the IT field and besides being one of the few females, she is a minority as an American. This is as much about cheaper labor as it is a shortage of workers in the IT field.
Keep in mind, Chambliss is the one who spearheaded the move for Amnesty for illegal aliens, until there was such an outrage that he "changed his position". A leopard doesn't change his spots!
Fixed it.
I am disappointed that Georgia cannot find a traditional democrat like Richard Russell or Sam Nunn to challenge Chambliss. I guess that’s a dead breed. Too bad. I would much prefer Nunn to Saxby, who is a feather weight, and worse, he acts like a pal of Teddy Swimmer.
He is, IMO, out of touch with most Georgians. He is totally country club, arrogant, and a business elitist.
Sen. Isakson, in contrast, is better than OK.
But for some reason, mostly his immigration stand and his use of pathetically canned responses to constituents’ letters, I dislike Chambliss. He would be vulnerable if he faced a conservative commonsense democrat. I know. Those types are gone forever. Sad for Georgia.
This problem could be solved by accepting the 65,000 applications with the highest salaries, rather than the first 65,000.
” . . . the United States limits the type and number of foreign workers who can enter our country.”
All those lies will cross your eyes.
Translation: You commoners don’t donate nearly enough money for me to pay attention to your needs.
“However, we must take the necessary steps to encourage U.S. students to pursue careers in these fields.”
Encourage U.S. students?
By letting in massive numbers of third world engineers to undercut the market, depress wages, and displace natives?
I will absolutely not be encouraging my children to follow me into the profession of engineering. What was a promising career 20 years ago is certainly one no longer. There is no point for an intelligent young American to pursue studies in the applied sciences.
As sad as it is, I would rather see my kids pursue JD’s than MSEE’s. The slimball lawyers in Congress are not likely to open their own profession to indentured third world competition.
Also...
“It is counterproductive for the U.S. to train foreign scientists and engineers and then send them all home to compete against American businesses.”
Then don’t let foreign students in. Why not let Americans attend American universities? Especially at the American taxpayer supported state universities?
BS
ping
I know of a guy who is excellent and is working with us right now who might have to go back to Haiti (!) because the H1-B cap is already hit. It’s now a 50/50 dice roll to get an H1B.
There is more demand than supply for H1B visas.
Yes, it would be nice to have more Americans fill those jobs ... but American dont study engineering and science!
We need to fix our education system, but cutting of H1Bs hurts us more than it helps us.
The complaints herein about no engineering jobs don’t wash in my experience. Check the web sites of Toshiba, Westinghouse, Shaw, Dominion, GE in Wilmington, NC, and a host of other companies preparing to build the next generation of nuclear power stations. Engineers in all disciplines are being hired for excellent wage and benefit packages. Even “experienced engineers” are being picked up our of retirement at these companies. The openings significantly exceed the number of applicants. Folks who graduate with engineering degrees from accredited institutions should be automatically H1B. We have effectively taken them on to our side in the economic competition. A four-year engineering program is a way tougher hurdle than many of our folks or grandparents had to jump through to get into the US. Using the accident of where your parents happen to have been living when you were born is a poor basis to judge the worthiness of a pending US citizen who will be in a good position to pull the wagon that lots of “native born” ride in.
“Encourage U.S. students?”
We should but we dont.
“By letting in massive numbers of third world engineers to undercut the market, depress wages, and displace natives?”
First, the numbers are anything but massive - around 100,000 per year only. Just a fraction of total immigration.
“I will absolutely not be encouraging my children to follow me into the profession of engineering. What was a promising career 20 years ago is certainly one no longer.”
Hogwash. I have done very well with my PhD degree and there are places and opportunities for anyone with a higher degree to get into the field. Go to a top school and get an advanced degree and do well and you will get hired by a high-tech firm and be on track to make 6 figure salary.
“There is no point for an intelligent young American to pursue studies in the applied sciences.”
Baloney. What a tragic and misguided comment. Go that route and Then we will have a self-fulfilling prophecy of lack of educated engineers, driving yet more H1B type immigration, or the even worse alternative - American decline due to lack of sufficient labor pool to drive technology innovation.
The fact is that innovation is becoming ever more important. get a PhD in Math and you make $200,000/yr on wall street as a derviatives analyst; get into petroleum engineering and the multi-trillion oil and gas industry will want you - 6 figure salary with experience; in CS or EE, and you can work for semiconductor, IT, computers, or Google - or start the next startup wave. Good person in my area, EDA, can with experience and the right skills get 6 figure salary. The fact is that people dont have patience for maintaining the right skills.
And if that doesnt work, you can always go into academia.
The fact is this: Unemployment rates for engineering is quite low. It is very hard to find good people in these fields, which forces businesses to go overseas. There is opportunity out there for those who want it. We end up hiring folks from India because too many young Americans were scared away by the lies of pessimists like you, or were too lazy to stick to it in school.
We should be encouraging and we should have much expanded education in engineering, math and science. It’s all the other educational fields that are not needed so much. We need less lawyers, sociologists, poli sci, english majors, etc. They exist simply because our education system is so poor that we cant train young students who can hack it in science, engineering and math.
Bottom-line: Dont believe the lie that engineering is not a good field.
“Why not let Americans attend American universities?”
We do! What a dumb question. Any American citizen can apply to any American University.
” am disappointed that Georgia cannot find a traditional democrat like Richard Russell or Sam Nunn to challenge Chambliss. I guess that’s a dead breed. Too bad. I would much prefer Nunn to Saxby, who is a feather weight, and worse, he acts like a pal of Teddy Swimmer.”
?!?!?
Chambliss ACU rating = 96%
Saxby Chambliss (R.-Ga.) 2006 ACU rating: 96
He is in the Top Ten of most conservative Senators:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=20254
Nunn was a moderate/liberate Dem, a southern-fried Lieberman. Chambliss is a Champion compared to that.
“But for some reason, mostly his immigration stand “
he stood up against amnesty. He was awesome. maybe you want him to be with the RINOs and Liberals, but he refused. He is better and stronger than most of the senate on this, and its not easy stand with Georgia businesses that have relied on immigrant labor.
“his use of pathetically canned responses to constituents’ letters” - You are in a dreamworld if you think any Senator is any different. They get thousands of letters and have to respond to all of them.
For shame. You have a top ten Senator and dont even know it or recognize it. Count your blessings.
“Exactly! The reason there are fewer and fewer Americans pursuing Engineering and Math in colleges is because when they graduate they can’t get jobs.”
That’s BS.
We have fewer graduates because fewer are properly educated to study the topic. The job prospects are better now than ever (partly because so few are studying it). We have shortages of engineering talent.
Thanks for agreeing and confirming my point. It really disappoints me to see Freepers spout such nonsense as 'engineers cant get jobs'. I hate to pull rank on threads, but if another yokel makes the phony claim about I am going to ask for their degree, field, experience, industry and salary. They dont know what they are talking about.
I am making well into 6 figures in semiconductors. I get regular calls from recruiters, as does just about anyone in the field. The reason that companies are "shipping jobs overseas"? You cant FIND the talent here in US! And Ive worked with quite a few H1B folks. Yes, if you dont have talent, skills etc., it might be tough.
And I know folks in construction and other fields where outsourcing just cannot happen. We will never outsource engineering for the roads, bridges, buildings and power plants. If you are worried about it, become a civil engineer. If I were starting out now, I might consider the field it sounds you are in: Nuclear power plant building. Civil engineers for that could make a career out of the next wave of nukes to be built in the next 20-30 years.
To paraphrase that ball player ... "Engineering's been very very good to me".
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