Achievers
Books
Business
Calender
Community
Controversy
Cuisine
Eateries
Education
Enterprise
Faith
Good Samaritans
Health
Infotech
Media
Memories
Movies
News Archives
Opinion
Specials
The Arts

Clinton Proposes Modest Increase in H1-B Visas But Senate Leaders Stick to the Big Boost

R S Shankar

Given the rising opposition by unions to the proposed increase of H1-B visas and keeping an eye on Al Gore's presidential aspirations, the Clinton administration has finally spoken on the issue.

It said it would support a "reasonable increase" in temporary foreign skilled workers, and specified the numbers. A bill introduced by powerful Republicans in the Senate proposes to increase the quota from 115,000 to 195,000 for each of the next three years.

Inspired by Senator Edward M Kennedy's thoughts, the administration suggested that senators who are pushing the legislation to boost the visas must do more to boost training programmes to prepare more Americans for hi-tech jobs. The senators include Phil Gramm, a conservative Republican from Texas.

The White House statement came soon after the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected a modest boost suggested by Kennedy, one of the strongest critics of the programme. He had proposed an increase to 145,000 visas from the current 115,000 cap, but the Senate committee rejected his idea. But for the Senate intervention to boost the cap, the quota would have had to return to 65,000, which existed till 1998 when the lawmakers raised it to 115,000, following pleas from the likes of Bill Gates.

While the critics of the programme assert that the shortage of skilled workers has been artificially created by the industry by getting rid of older workers in the hope of hiring lesser paid immigrants, industry groups say that as many as 300,000 IT jobs are going unfilled. Think Tanks such as Cato have recently demanded that the government should let the industry decide how many workers it needs to import.

"There's absolutely no question that there's a crisis right now," Jeff Lande, of the Information Technology Association of America, has said.

Among the groups that oppose the H1-B visas is the powerful Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA. Its leaders wonder why the salaries for the H1-B visa holders or for any American hi-tech workers are not going up in Silicon Valley if indeed a shortage of workers exists. Foreign workers get about $45,000 a year, while Americans just out of college get about $65,000. The wages even at these levels are far higher than what many Americans earn.

Unions believe wages and working conditions for US workers are undercut when more foreign workers are admitted on temporary visas, said Paul Donnelly in an interview with The Boston Globe.

Union leaders also say it is not correct to think only 195,000 workers come into America every year. Potential hi-tech workers enter America through student visas and highly educated foreigners also enter America without going through H1-B visa programmes, they say. And at least 300,000 hi-tech workers enter America each year.

Supporters of the H1-B visa programme say the hi-tech workers not only boost American productivity, but also help to keep wages at a competitive level.

Next: Veteran congressmen back India's claim to permanent UN seat

Tell us what you think of this report