Senate Judiciary Hearing on "Importance" of H-1 Visas

Date: Monday, September 15, 2003 2:14 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

A Senate Judiciary committee will hold a hearing tommorow on the value
of H-1 visas. There is not much information about who will attend, but
you can bet they will hear from the lobbyists who are hoping to keep
the yearly cap on visas from going down.

Orrin Hatch is holding the hearing and that alone is cause for alarm.
Hatch has been a stoic supporter of H-1B. If I was a betting man, I
would guess that this committee will conclude that H-1 visas are vital
to our economy and the current levels must be maintained in order to
prevent our economy from total collapse.

Read a letter by Hatch in support of H-1B here:
http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/Library/Politicians/Hatch.htm

The only advocates that will be there for our side will be from the
AFL/CIO and the IEEE. The Senate committee denied the request from the
AFL/CIO for oral testimony, so it's obvious that this hearing will only
allow pro-business H-1B supporters to speak. A letter from TechsUnited
is included below.

BetterImmigration gives Orrin Hatch a grade of F- and he deserves that
grade. Here are some briefs on his voting record:

2003: Voted for unlimited worker visas in committee Sen. Hatch voted as
part of the Senate Judiciary Committee for the Chile and Singapore free
trade agreements that provide for unlimited tech and professional work
visa with indefinite extensions and no protections for American
workers. The trade agreements pass the Senate Judiciary Committee 11-4.

2000: Voted for S.2045, a foreign worker bill with no worker
protections. Sen. Hatch voted for the Abraham foreign worker bill to
nearly triple the number of foreign high-tech workers. Despite a GAO
report finding no evidence of a worker shortage and suggesting fraud in
the H-1B program, Sen. Hatch voted for this bill that included no
worker protections or anti-fraud measures.

2000: Voted in committee to increase foreign worker importation. Sen.
Hatch voted as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of
S.2045 (the Abraham bill). This legislation would nearly triple the
number of H-1B visas annually and grant virtual permanent residency to
H-1B visas holders and their families. S.2045 passed the Senate
Judiciary Committee 16-2.

2000: Voted in committee against worker protections. Sen. Hatch voted
as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee AGAINST the Kennedy amendment
to S.2045. The Kennedy amendment would have reduced the overall H-1B
increase proposed in S.2045 from about 200,000 to around 150,000 and
would have required employers to attest they had not displaced U.S.
workers to hire H-1Bs. The amendment was defeated 8-10.

There is much more on Orrin Hatch's H-1B voting record that you can see
by going to this website:
http://www.betterimmigration.com/

http://www.senate.gov/~judiciary/hearing.cfm?id=913

""Examining the Importance of the H-1 Visa to the American Economy." "
Senate Judiciary Committee
Full Committee

DATE: September 16, 2003
TIME: 02:30 PM
ROOM: SD-226
OFFICIAL HEARING NOTICE / WITNESS LIST:

NOTICE OF HEARING

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing on Tuesday,
September 16, 2003, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 226 of the Senate Dirksen
Office Building on "Examining the Importance of the H-1 Visa to the
American Economy."

Chairman Hatch will preside.

By order of the Chairman

> From: "Mike Blain"
> Date: 2003/09/15 Mon PM 03:06:35 CDT
> To:
> Subject: RE: [TechsUnite] Re: H1-B SENATE HEARING times

Paul Almeida, the president of the AFL-CIO's Department of Professional
Employees, told me today that they will be in attendance at this H-1B
Senate hearing and that they will provide written testimony. He said
they requested, but were not granted, a seat at the hearing from which
they could provide oral testimony.

He also said: "As best as we can determine the focus is pro-business on
why they need the program. We believe the record will be open for 30
days and we will base our comments on what is said at the hearing."

We are hearing that the only non-business seat at this hearing will be
for an IEEE rep.

Also, a reporter for Press Associates Union News Service, based in DC,
told me he will be covering this hearing tomorrow. We subscribe to
their news service and will publish his report to the TechsUnite and
WashTech web sites and enewsletter lists later this week.

Mike Blain
Editor
TechsUnite.org
&
WashTech/CWA

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