Wednesday, May 10, 2000 - High-Tech Visas May Be Increased
By BART JANSEN, Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) - A consensus has emerged in Congress to increase the number of visas given to foreigners with prized technical skills, such as computer programmers and electrical engineers.
Going through several competing measures Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee cobbled together a bill that would remove visa limits for the next three years, a move favored by high-tech companies that say they desperately need workers.
``There is general agreement that the economy of this country is best served by some sort of increase,'' said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.
In contrast to earlier bills, the compromise would not require federal regulations that industry officials worried would block them from hiring any foreign workers. The committee lacked a quorum for final approval of the bill, but an expected vote Wednesday should send it to the House floor.
A similar bill already has cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee and awaits action as early as this week in the full Senate.
The progress in both chambers is a significant change from the reluctance in previous years to increase the number of visas.
``I think the widest change is that the debate seems to have moved away from whether we need more to exactly how many and exactly what conditions are being attached to that,'' said Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America. H-1B visas are given to foreigners with college degrees and allow them to work in the United States for up to six years. The number of visas is capped at 115,000 this year, but is scheduled to fall to 107,500 next year and 65,000 per year after that.
High-tech industry officials say at least 300,000 jobs are going unfilled for lack of qualified U.S. applicants. They note this year's visa allotment was filled by mid-March, less than halfway through the fiscal year.
Labor unions contend the industry is looking overseas chiefly to hold down wages.
The compromise bill from Reps. Lamar Smith, R-Texas; Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas; and Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., would remove the limit on the visas for three years and set a minimum salary of $40,000 for the jobs.
Companies would have to document $250,000 in assets to participate in the program and conduct annual reviews of wages for their American workers to ensure they either stayed the same or rose. A $150 fee increase for each visa would be divided between the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the State Department to combat fraud.
Smith backed off on his earlier requirement that the Labor Department come up with oversight regulations for the program before any more visas are issued.
``In my judgment, this bill represents a balance. It addresses both the needs of high-tech companies and the concerns of American workers,'' said Smith, a skeptic of the high-tech worker shortage who said he was giving the industry ``the benefit of the doubt.''
Miller said a few ``rough edges'' need to be removed from the bill, such as the requirement to document average wages.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., criticized the compromise for failing to offer training for American workers. She had suggested raising the visa fee from $500 to $1,000 to generate $100 million for educating and training American workers so they can fill the vacant high-tech jobs.
``The bill before us falls far short of what we need,'' she said.
Several lawmakers complained minorities are ignored by the high-tech industry. The compromise bill would have the General Accounting Office study minority recruitment in the industry.
The bill is HR4227.
