Dennis Hastert on H-1B

Dennis Hastert, Illinois' 14th Congressional District, does a good job of skirting the issues and not giving an answer to the questions from his constituent. Hastert should have mentioned that he voted against worker protections and for an increase in the H-1B limits in 1998

Dear Congressman Hastert,

In September of last year, President Bush, with you standing at his side, stated 'Any American out of work is too many Americans out of work.'. Your recent campaign brochure mentions your efforts to provide tax relief, improve education, reform health care, support the President with respect to fighting terrorism and standing with veterans. There is no mention of your efforts to reduce unemployment, which recently reached a 19 year high. The published rate of unemployment would be even higher but for the revisions to the computation enacted under each of the three previous administrations.

In the area of Information Technology, unemployment is variously estimated to be between 200,000 and 500,000. There are an estimated 300,000 guest workers (H1-B visa status) employed in Information Technology with more arriving daily.

H. R. 3222, the High-tech Work Fairness and Economic Stimulus Act of 2001, would reduce the number of additional guest worker visas as the rate of unemployment increases. This Bill languishes in committee.

Where does Congressman Hastert stand with respect to H. R. 3222?

Thank you,

Tom Paul

May 30, 2002

Dear Mr. Paul,

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns regarding H1-B visas. I appreciate hearing from you and welcome this chance to respond.

As you may know, the Immigration Act of 1990 established numerical limitations on the H1-B nonimmigrant classification to provide U.S. employers access to foreign skilled workers. H-1B visas allow high tech workers entry into the United States for a temporary stay. An H-1B visa allows workers to stay in the United States for three years, with one renewal, for a total of 6 years. The Immigration Act initially allowed 65,000 Hi-B visa entries per year but has significantly increased since 1997.

As you are aware, the 106th Congress approved legislation that increased the number of H1-B visas that may be issued in a year from 115,000 to 195,000 H1-B visas for the fiscal years 2001-2003. However, you may be interested to know that the recent economic downturn has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of requests for the technology-based H-1B visas. The Immigration and Naturalization Service recently released the FY01 visa numbers, where employers received 163,200 of an allotted 195,000 visas.

Nonetheless, Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) introduced H.R. 3222, which would limit the number of H-lB visas to 65,000 for any fiscal year and reduce the number of visas issued by 10,000 for each quarter percentage the unemployment rate for the United States falls below 6 percent.

Currently, HR. 3222 has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary for their consideration. Although I do not serve on this committee, rest assured I will keep your thoughts in mind as this legislation continues through the House.

Thanks again for contacting me. If I may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to do so again.