Pascrell Introduced H-1B Reform Bill
Pascrell Introduced H-1B Reform Bill
Date: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 12:01 AM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
November 21, 2005 No. 1372
Last year Rep. Pascrell's office, at the urging of activist Sona Shah, asked me to write up a list of suggestions for a bill he was working on to reform H-1B. My opinion has always been that H-1B should be eliminated, but given that's not going to happen anytime soon, I was willing to work on that list.
I submitted the list to Pascrell's staff in early January of this year and haven't heard anything since. I began to think that Pascrell's legislation wasn't going to see the light of day and gave up hope that anything would come out of his office.
Much to my surprise, Pascrell announced his new bill on November 21, 2005!
The "Defend the American Dream Act of 2005", or H.R. 43278, hasn't been put online yet at Thomas.gov. While I haven't had the time to do an in-depth analysis, the bill appears to be a positive step in the right direction. My conclusion based on a preliminary copy of the bill is that some of our suggestions were definitely incorporated into the bill.
Expect follow-up newsletters on this very important piece of legislation, and expect the propaganda machines from the cheap labor lobby to begin their attacks against this bill. If this bill picks up some sponsors, there are going to be some very stressed out shills.
The most important thing you can do to help this bill is to demand that your Representatives co-sponsor the bill, and to ask your Senators to introduce the bill into the Senate.
Articles Used for this Newsletter
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Fix needed for worker visas
http://www.pascrell.house.gov/issues2.cfm?id=11398
November 21, 2005
For Immediate Release
PASCRELL ANNOUNCES COMPREHENSIVE WORKER VISA LEGISLATION:
H-1B VISA REFORM WILL RETURN AMERICAN JOBS TO AMERICAN WORKERS
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0511/21/ldt.01.html
LOU DOBBS TONIGHT
Aired November 21, 2005 - 18:00 ET
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IEEE-USA press release
IEEE-USA Applauds Rep. Pascrell for Introducing H-1B Reform Legislation
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http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2ODIwMjg5
Fix needed for worker visas
Monday, November 21, 2005
By PAUL BRUBAKER
HERALD NEWS
A century ago, fighting for the American worker meant upholding the rights of unskilled laborers subjected to the harsh conditions of the nation's industrial manufacturing sector.
Today, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, will take up the fight for the American worker - and how that worker has changed over the years.
"We are talking about people who have high-tech degrees in one hand and pink slips in the other," Pascrell said Friday. "I'm going to do everything in my power to end that."
Pascrell is scheduled to announce that he is introducing a comprehensive bill to reform the nation's H-1B visa program on the steps of the state Labor Department building in Paterson.
The visas allow companies to temporarily hire well-educated "guest workers" from other countries, usually at half of what Americans in the same positions are paid.
While a variety of professions fall into the H-1B category, the visa was established during the Clinton administration because there was a perceived shortage of skilled workers in the information technology field.
Sona Shah, 34, of Montclair - who was born in India, came to the United States at the age of 3 and became an American citizen at 18 - is scheduled to join Pascrell as one of the casualties of "corporate misuse" of H-1B visas.
"Americans are being displaced and foreign employees are underpaid and become indentured labor," said Shah, who holds degrees in physics and mechanical engineering from New York University and Stevens Institute of Technology, respectively.
In 1998, Shah was terminated from her job as a program analyst for ADP Wilco, a British-based financial services company that is a subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing Inc., founded by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.
Shah has filed a discrimination suit against ADP Wilco, which is pending in a New York State court, on "behalf of both American and foreign employees." The class-action suit alleges that the company favored lower-paid foreign workers brought in through H-1B and other temporary "guest worker" visas .Her fianci, Kai Barrett, 31, also was an ADP Wilco employee hired out of Britain under an H-1B visa to work in the U.S. Barrett is another plaintiff in the suit, alleging he and other guest workers were not paid the prevailing wage for his job as a programmer.
"Discrimination on the basis of anything other than your merit should not be acceptable," Shah said. "If American workers want their rights protected, they have to protect the rights of guest workers as well."
Pascrell's bill seeks to put an end to that kind of scenario through more stringent requirements for companies sponsoring foreign workers for the H-1B visas.
If the bill is made law, the visa's application fee would be raised from $1,500 to $4,500 per employee, and companies would have to allow American workers 30 days to apply for open jobs before applying for the visa. It would also change the visa's length of stay from six years divided over two three-year terms to one non-renewable term of three years, or four years divided over two two-year terms.
The national cap on H-1B visas would remain at 65,000, but the leeway of allowing 20,000 extra H-1B visas for people holding higher degrees would be eliminated.
Pascrell, a former Paterson mayor, said that he is most concerned about the long-term implications of corporations' H-1B practices.
"We're allowing companies to simply reach out into other countries to do the job at half the price," he said. "This is not exporting American jobs. What we're doing is basically eliminating jobs for Americans and asking foreigners, who do not have the status of citizenry, to do their jobs. The same thing will happen to high-tech industry as happened to manufacturing in this country."
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http://www.pascrell.house.gov/issues2.cfm?id=11398
November 21, 2005 For Information Contact:
For Immediate Release Caley Gray (202) 468-3081
PASCRELL ANNOUNCES COMPREHENSIVE WORKER VISA LEGISLATION:
H-1B VISA REFORM WILL RETURN AMERICAN JOBS TO AMERICAN WORKERS
PATERSON -- U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) today announced introduction of H.R. 4378, the "Defend the American Dream Act of 2005." Pascrells legislation is the only comprehensive federal legislation designed to reform the flawed H-1B visa program that is being abused by corporations to hire employees for low wages, fewer benefits, and poor working conditions.
"My legislation faces the Americans who have high tech degrees in one hand, and pink slips in the other," stated Pascrell, the author of the Defend the American Dream Act. "We must address this fundamentally broken program that is tearing down the labor standards American workers have worked so hard to build-up. The "Defend the American Dream Act" is real job creation plan. It returns the American dream to thousands of workers who have worked hard to advance the cutting edge of global technological advancement."
Joining Pascrell to make the announcement at Department of Labor Northern Regional Service Center in Paterson, NJ was Sona Shah, a tech worker from Montclair, New Jersey who was displaced by a H-1B worker, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
"This H-1B visa and other such guest worker programs have provided a vehicle for employers to discriminate against and exploit, both American and guest workers," said Sona Shah. "The negative ripple effect on the American economy, tax base and intellectual capital for America is staggering. We need Congressman Pascrells bill because the H-1B visa as it currently stands is riddled with loopholes that enable abuse with no system for accountability."
"In report after report, government investigators have found serious weaknesses and failings in the H-1B program," IEEE-USA President Gerard A. Alphonse said. "Contrary to the laws intent, the program can be used to fill any job at almost any wage, and the vast majority of employers are not required to recruit American workers first. IEEE-USA applauds Rep. Pascrell for drafting a bill that addresses these serious problems."
Pascrell, a leading voice in Congress for American workers and worker rights exercised his commitment to reforming the H-1B visa program in the 108th Congress when he first introduced the "Defend the American Dream Act of 2004." The legislation was drafted after the Pascrell met with displaced tech workers at a town hall meeting.
The current legislation in the 109th Congress includes stronger language to reform the visa program. It will lower the cap on H-1Bs, require that all employers prove that they are hiring qualified American workers first, and greatly will strengthen and increase enforcement and accountability provisions for the program.
The main provisions of the, "Defend the American Dream Act of 2005" are listed below.
1) Strengthens Essential Safeguards for Affected Workers
i. Requires employers of H-1B non immigrants to use one of three specified methods (whichever results in higher wages) to determine wages for purposes of required wage attestations.
ii. Requires that employers actively recruit American workers and make copies of labor application available to public 30 days ahead of filing.
iii. Prohibits employers from placing, outsourcing, leasing or otherwise contracting for the placement of an H-1B nonimmigrant with another employer.
iv. Creates a private right of action for persons harmed by an employers violation of labor condition requirements.
2) Improves H-1 B Program Administration and Enforcement
i. Increases visa processing efficiencies and reduces backlogs and delays by centralizing basic administrative responsibilities in the Department of Labor.
ii. Enhances compliance and reduces fraud and abuse by authorizing random audits of labor condition applications and related H-1B visa applications.
iii. Increases monetary penalties for willful violators.
3) Limits H-1B Admission Ceilings and Authorized Stays
i. The H-1B visa quota would be reduced to its originally authorized level of 65,000 per year.
ii. Authorized stays would be limited to a single, 3-year, non-renewable term or 2 years, renewable for additional years, for a total of 4 years.
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http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0511/21/ldt.01.html
Aired November 21, 2005 - 18:00 ET
PILGRIM: All right. Thanks very much, Bill Schneider. Thanks, Bill.
Well, a reminder now to vote in tonight's poll. How would you rate to President's trip to Asia: success, failure, inconsequential? Cast your vote, Loudobbs.com. We'll bring you the results in just a few minutes.
In Washington today, former aide to Congressman Tom DeLay pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Lobbyist Michael Scanlon admitted to plotting to defraud clients and bride public officials. It was part of a plea deal Scanlon reached with government in an investigation of his former partner lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Now, Scanlon and Abramoff are accused of defrauding Indian tribes, bribing Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio with trips, sports tickets, campaign donations. Scanlon now is expected to testify against Abramoff.
Well, turning now to a new effort to save American jobs and reform H1B visas. Tens of thousands of foreigners use those visas to come to this country for jobs, but one Congressman has proposed legislation that would radically overhaul the system. Bill Tucker reports from Patterson, New Jersey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Congressman Bill Pascrell does not want to eliminate the H1B visa, he wants to reform it and create stronger enforcement provisions.
REP. BILL PASCRELL, (D) NEW JERSEY: Corporations are providing a glass ceiling for American workers in a trap of virtual servitude for low paying, overworked H1B employees. My friends, that is not an exaggeration, that is not hyperbole, I found this through research to be the truth.
TUCKER: The Congressman held his news conference outside the unemployment office in Patterson, New Jersey, to underscore what he calls his commitment to the American worker. Supporters of his bill include the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers who say the current H1B visa program has caused their members great harm.
HAROLD AMMOND, IEEE: It's been devastating. We have actually had communities where engineers were told they had to train new employees. The new employees happen to be H1B employees. And when the training was done, the engineers -- the American engineers were laid off.
TUCKER: Among the proposed changes, centralizing the oversight of the program under the Department of Labor. Currently at least four departments are involved in oversight. Require mandatory annual audits to enforce prevailing wage provisions. Companies would be required to notify employees of open positions where H1Bs were being considered to give American workers the first shot at the jobs.
The visa would become a three year visa, instead of the six years as it is now. The fee would triple to $4,500 and workers would get the right to sue their employers, offering a different kind of enforcement.
SHONA SHAH, DISPLACED IT WORKER: If there's a verdict or a settlement, then corporations will say let's use the visa for what it was intended, because if we don't, private citizens have the ability to bring action against us.
TUCKER: Bill Tucker, CNN, Patterson, New Jersey.
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IEEE-USA Applauds Rep. Pascrell for Introducing H-1B Reform Legislation
WASHINGTON (21 November 2005) -- IEEE-USA applauds Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) for introducing legislation that attempts to correct some of the "serious problems" in the H-1B temporary visa program.
Rep. Pascrell's bill, H.R. 43278, the "Defend the American Dream Act of 2005," introduced on 17 November, is designed to provide greater workforce protections for U.S. citizens and H-1B visa holders. It would require all employers, not just so-called "H-1B-dependent companies," to attest to good-faith efforts to actively recruit U.S. workers for jobs employers propose to fill with H-1B workers. And it prohibits the outplacement (i.e., outsourcing, leasing or contracting) of H-1B workers by H-1B employers to other companies.
"In report after report, government investigators have found serious weaknesses and failings in the H-1B program," IEEE-USA President Gerard A.Alphonse said. "Contrary to the law's intent, the program can be used to fill any job at almost any wage, and the vast majority of employers are not required to recruit American workers first. IEEE-USA applauds Rep. Pascrell for drafting a bill that addresses these serious problems."
In evaluating the H-1B program for the FY 2006 budget cycle, the federal Office of Management and Budget found, "The [current H-1B] statute waives a labor market test, does not require submission of supporting documentation by employers, [and] limits the Department of Labors authority to review or question [applications]... [,leaving] the program vulnerable to fraud or abuse." According to IEEE-USA, Rep. Pascrell's bill will fix these flaws and ensure that the statute aligns with the intent of the program.
The bill also seeks to strengthen prevailing wage protections for foreign workers because, as viewed by IEEE-USA, the current protections are ineffective and can be easily taken advantage of by employers seeking to pay lower wages than they would pay to comparably skilled Americans. Rep. Pascrell highlighted the bill at a news conference held earlier today (on 21 Nov.) in Paterson, N.J.
IEEE-USA advances the public good and promotes the careers and public policy interests of the more than 220,000 engineers, scientists and allied professionals who are U.S. members of the IEEE. IEEE-USA is part of the IEEE, the world's largest technical professional society with 360,000 members in 150 countries. For more information, go to
http://www.ieeeusa.org.
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