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WASHINGTON,
DC 20510-1305 |
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February
9, 2001 |
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Mr. Robert Johnson
1409 Rachel Lane
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
Dear Mrs. Johnson:
Thank you for your message about proposals to increase the cap for
H-1B visas for temporary workers. I appreciate hearing. from you.
The H-1B visa program provides for the temporary admission of foreign
professional workers, including highly-skilled technology workers, to the United States. The technology industry remains concerned that it is unable to find enough qualified candidates to fill positions that require advanced skills.
S. 2045, the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act; was signed into law by President Clinton on October 17, 2000. S. 2045 will increase the number of Hl-B visas by 297,500
over three years and would exclude from the cap all H1-B temporary workers who have at least a master's degree or who work for universities or nonprofit research
centers.
The Information Technology Association of America reports that the industry will need an additional 1.6 million workers to fill information technology positions. More than half of these jobs will go
unfilled due to a shortfall of qualified workers. Businesses in Ilinois often tell me that
they simply can't find skilled workers to fill available jobs.
Congress needs to craft a long-term policy to help ensure that American workers have the education arid training necessary to fill technology positions in the future. I will continue to support education and training measures that help students and American workers acquire the needed skills.
Thank you
once again for contacting me. Please feel free to stay in touch.
P.JD/dl
P.S. If you are ever visiting Washington, please feel free to join
Senator Fitzgerald and me at our weekly constituent coffee. When
the Senate is in session, we provide coffee and donuts every
Thursday at 8:30 a.m. as we hear what is on the minds of
Illinoisans and respond to your questions. We would welcome your
participation. Please call my D.C. office for more details.
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