H1-B Visa, China Trade Bills

Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2002 2:29 PM

*** H-1B NEWSLETTER ***

Get the Facts on H-1B at
www.ZaZona.com

I stumbled into this article. Even though it's a couple of years old I
think
it contains some very interesting information. Two things that caught my
attention:

1 - Notice how the globalists consider H-1B and "free trade" to be the
same
issue. That is because workers are considered a commodity that is priced
according to the world market.

2 - Pay attention to the controversy with the Hispanic Caucus. They
promised
to scuttle the H-1B bill until Clinton promised them amnesty. The Caucus
toned down their opposition long enough for H-1B to get passed but they
never got their amnesty bill. Bush and Presidente Fox are still trying
to
slide amnesty through Congress but until they do it seems that the
Hispanic
Caucus got a really lousy deal.

http://www.pcworld.com/computercenter/aol/article/0,aid,17831,pg,1,00.asp

H1-B Visa, China Trade Bills Stumble

House representative describes why China trade, H1-B visa bills falter.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As Congress prepares for its summer recess, key
legislative efforts backed by the business community are in jeopardy due
to
political stumbling blocks, says Representative Cal Dooley
(D-California).

During a meeting hosted by the National Association of Manufacturers,
Dooley
fielded questions from businesses such as IBM and Eastman Kodak
regarding
the status of the China trade bill and expansion of temporary visas for
skilled workers. Both issues lack congressional approval.

Dooley is a cofounder of the New Democrat Network, a group of more than
70
moderate House Democrats with a policy agenda focused on trade, high
technology, and other economic issues.

Visas Threatened

The visa issue has been of great interest to high-tech companies who
have
claimed for several years that the booming economy has shrunk the pool
of
qualified U.S. workers. California technology companies have recently
contended that they reached limits on temporary visas in March and are
concerned that a worker shortage will slow business growth.

A bill sponsored by representatives David Dreier (R-California) and Zoe
Lofgren (D-California) gained broad bipartisan support and seemed headed
for
prompt passage until it became the center of debate over immigration.

The proposed legislation would expand the number of skilled foreign
workers
from 115,000 to 200,000 that U.S. companies can hire after they are
unable
to find sufficiently qualified workers from the U.S. labor market. It
would
also double the cost of the work visa to $1,000, with the additional
money
earmarked for U.S. science scholarships and worker training programs.
Dooley
calls this program "capacity-building"--an effort to educate and train
the
U.S. work force to mitigate the future need for the visas, designated
"H1-B."

But controversy engulfed the bill when the Hispanic Caucus proposed
amending
it to include legalization of immigrants who fled El Salvador,
Guatemala,
Haiti, and Honduras in the 1980s but were not covered under a 1997
amnesty
for Nicaraguan and Cuban refugees. The blending of two distinctly
different
immigration issues has slowed the progress of the bill, Dooley says.

Another business-backed bill, which would give normal trade status to
China,
has also run into trouble, Dooley says. Expressing his "distress over
the
Senate's inaction" on the bill, Dooley told the business group, "[We]
cannot
have a [modified] China PNTR vote come back to the House. It's a death
wish
and an overtly political move."

Passage of the China trade bill is threatened by the introduction of a
corresponding bill in the Senate, sponsored by Fred Thompson
(R-Tennessee)
and Robert G. Torricelli (D-New Jersey) that also addresses weapons
proliferation in the region. Alternative bills and the politics of
November
elections have greatly diminished the chances legislation will get
passed
before the recess, Dooley says.

A Broader Perspective

Despite the setbacks, Dooley remains confident these bills will
eventually
clear Congress. But he emphasizes the need of business to inform their
workers of how their jobs are directly tied to expanded trade.

"How do we educate the broader public to the importance of economic
engagement?" Dooley asks. "From a California perspective, we have
tremendous
opportunities in Latin and South America that are impeded by the lack of
free trade."

He is also careful to remind the business community that it must not
turn
its back on issues such as the environment and human rights. "Once the
China
matter passes, we do not just want to leave the playing field," he says.
"We
need to point to commitment on the key issues."

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