Thursday, March 09, 2000 - Hatch/Abraham H-1B Bill Overwhelmingly Passed by Senate Judiciary Committee
The Senate Judiciary Committee, under Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), met today and marked up S. 2045, the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act.After defeating a substitute amendment offered by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), the Committee approved an amendment by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Spencer Abraham (R-MI) which added a new education piece to the bill, providing funding for National Science Foundation projects, without increasing the H-1B fee.
The Committee then cleared the bill by a vote of 16-2. The tone of the debate this time differed markedly from the last debate, with no disagreement raised about the need for more H-1B professionals.
It is thus likely that the Senate this year will pass an H-1B bill.
However, several issues remain and will be addressed either prior to or when the bill moves to the Senate floor for debate. These issues include: increased fees, some increased labor protections on the H-1B program, and the size of the increase in the visa numbers.
