Jay Inslee Kowtowing in India

Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 12:15 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA) is kowtowing in India on behalf of the
India Caucus. He promised his Indian audience that he is a devout
globalist that will do everything he can to thwart Americans that he
considers protectionists. He said there will be no ban on outsourcing
if he can help it.

Go to Congressman Crowley's website to see who the other members of the
India Caucus are:
http://crowley.house.gov/issues/india.htm

These India Caucus members have pledged to put the interests of India
first even if that means betraying the voters that put them into
office. Don't expect to change them - vote them out of office.

U.S. Ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill, dismissed Americans that
are complaining about unfair competition. He told reporters in Bombay
that "the issue isn't a tidal wave in the United States." Blackwill may
be right about the tidal wave but the the flames of anger are building.
Hopefully Blackwill will eat his words.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/5959814.htm

Posted on Wed, May. 28, 2003

Congressman addresses fears that U.S. may limit datawork contracts to
India

RAJESH MAHAPATRA
Associated Press

NEW DELHI, India - A United States congressman has allayed Indian
concerns that some American states may ban outsourcing of datawork,
which brings millions of dollars in business to call centers in India.

While Washington, Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey are planning
legislation against giving state data processing contracts to overseas
companies or workers who are not American citizens, Washington Rep. Jay
Inslee said Wednesday that "these bills won't go anywhere."

Inslee, a Democrat, also told an audience of business leaders that he
would be surprised if there was any immediate action on the bills.

"There were no hearings, ... no votes and there was no proposal to the
governor," in the state of Washington state where a bill was introduced
earlier in the year. "Essentially, it didn't go anywhere."

The move follows complaints that the Americans were losing jobs with
the government and businesses increasingly leasing out services such as
customer response, salary billing to overseas facilities, mostly in
India.

Separately, the U.S. Ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill, told
reporters in Bombay that "the issue isn't a tidal wave in the United
States." He, however, warned political overtones could exacerbate the
issue in future.

Translated into law in the United States, the proposed legislation
could strike a major blow to India's fast-growing information
technology industry.

Call centers, back-office operations and similar jobs in India employ
some 1.07 million locals. Such contracts from overseas countries -
nearly 70 percent from the United States - were worth 71 billion rupees
($1.5 billion) in 2002.

Earlier this week, Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley said India will take
the matter to the World Trade Organization, if the United States
brought a law banning outsourcing.

Inslee, who serves on the Democratic Advisory Group on technology
issues, said the United States will never put such barriers against
long-term trade with India.

"We want to sell more Microsoft products, more Boeing planes in India.
Trade cannot be one-way. We also have to give access to Indian
products," he said

Still, the Indian industry must initiate a dialogue with its
counterparts and governments in the United States, because "trade does
create anxiety and debate," he said.

"But, at the end of the day we don't believe protectionism helps
economy's growth," Inslee said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=47763649

US won't stop outsourcing to India: Congressman

IANS[ WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2003 03:16:42 PM ]
NEW DELHI: US companies will continue to outsource jobs to India to cut
costs despite a move by some American states to curb flight of
government contracts to firms in other countries, said Congressman Jay
Inslee.

"People are worried about job security in the US and therefore it is
not terribly surprising to find a few people who will oppose
outsourcing to other countries," said Inslee, a member of the
Democratic Advisory Group on hi-tech issues.

"Some people may support the promulgation of legislation to ban
outsourcing but the majority of US industry and policymakers are not in
support of creation of new trade barriers," Inslee, who is on a visit
to India, said in an interview.

"I don't think it (a ban on outsourcing) is going to happen. We want to
keep our doors open. I believe any effort to restrict market access
will adversely impact the US economy. The policy of protectionism will
not take us anywhere, Inslee said.

"For any economic growth to occur, a country needs to add more value to
its products without increasing the cost and outsourcing to India helps
US companies do exactly that," added the Congressman.

The Indian government has reacted sharply against four American states
-- New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut and Washington -- reportedly
proposing to ban outsourcing of government contracts to companies
outside the US.

Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley said the move was against the principle
of market access and India was placed on "high moral ground" to take it
up at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations.

The New Jersey Senate had unanimously cleared a bill on December 16
preventing public enterprises in the state from outsourcing work,
specifically to India. State Senator Shirley Turner had proposed the
bill.

The bill prohibited public enterprises from shifting their call centres
abroad for "cheap labour" with a view to creating more jobs for
Americans as the unemployment rate in the US had soared.

The bill was taken up for discussion by the Senate Committee in
February this year but couldn't be passed and has now been put on hold.
It is now likely to be discussed in the Senate next month.

Close on New Jersey's heels, other states like Washington and
Connecticut are also reportedly mulling a ban on outsourcing contracts
to India.

Inslee, a representative from the First Congressional district of
Washington, however said there was no move in his state to introduce a
bill that would make outsourcing difficult.

"Ours is a trade-oriented state and we will not take any step that goes
against the principle of market access. Our ability to access other
markets will diminish if we ourselves block access to the US market.
Trade is a two-way street."

India's vast pool of English-speaking and cheaper manpower, educational
system and training programmes have helped transform the country into a
global outsourcing superpower over the last few years.

India's software exports grew by 29 per cent to $7.5 billion in the
year to March 31, 2002, with some 60 per cent going to the US.

The country's rapidly growing business process outsourcing (BPO)
industry has virtually turned it into an electronic housekeeper to the
world, taking care of a host of routine activities for multinational
giants.

More than a quarter of Fortune 500 companies like General Electric,
American Express, British Airways, HSBC and Citibank are shifting their
back office operations to India.

Inslee, who is a part of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian
Americans, said Indian technology companies and professionals in the US
have played a very important role in the American economy.

"Indians in the US have created tremendous intellectual capital and
helped in the growth of the knowledge economy," Inslee said.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/may/28bpo.htm

US Congressman allays fear on BPO ban

| PTI | May 28, 2003 | 16:21 IST

US Congressman Jay Inslee on Wednesday downplayed India's apprehension
over the introduction of a certain bill proposing to curtail
outsourcing to India saying these were "more of discussions pieces than
legislative pieces".

"There are several stages of a legislation?-- after introduction, there
are hearings, from where it goes to chambers where voting take place,
then it goes to the executive for potential veto --?and I can tell you
that none of these stages have come in Washington since the Bill was
introduced, Inslee, a Democrat from Washington, said in New Delhi at a
Confederation of Indian Industry seminar on outsourcing.

Four American states are considering legislation to ban outsourcing of
state data processing contracts to developing nations even as dozens of
household names, spanning insurance, banking, technology and telecom,
are transferring part of their white collar administrative and
customer-service work to Asia, particularly to India, to cut costs.

The states considering the measure to curb flight of jobs are New
Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut and Washington, The Sunday Telegraph from
London had reported on Sunday.

However, Inslee called for initiating dialogue and said there was a
need to be observant towards the protectionist stand?adopted by certain
quarters in the US, which he described was a result of growing
insecurity within the US after the September 11 terrorist strike and
economic downturn.

Advising the governments to stay out of trade and refrain from creating
barriers, Inslee said only the most destructive form of government
would frame policies prohibiting individuals from working as a team.

"Not all of US is of the opinion that such policies would help. We
cannot hope to sell Microsoft products and Boeing airplanes here unless
we give access to India and Indians," Inslee said.

He was optimistic that soon the feeling of protectionism in the US
would be overwhelmed by sentiments of the growing need of joining India
and tapping its market of intellectual manpower.

On May 19, a bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives to
prevent intra-company job transfers to the clients' site in US under L1
visa.

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