Companies Ask Congress to Reform Broken H-1B/EB Visa System
Today, over 200 companies, research institutes and trade organizations asked Congress to reform the broken H-1B and employment-based immigration system during their lame duck
session.
The letter states, in part:" If we are serious about remaining the world’s innovation leader, we must fix our broken employment-based visa system, and we urgently request your support for reform this year."
November 13, 2006
Dear Member of Congress:
As the 109th Congress approaches adjournment, we urge you to complete action on
an issue of critical importance to U.S. competitiveness – remedies for the outdated
and counterproductive H-1B visa and employment-based (EB) green card
programs.
U.S. employers are unable to hire any additional highly educated H-1B visa
workers until October 2007 – even if these sought after individuals may have
received advanced degrees from U.S. universities. Moreover, EB green card
processing backlogs continue to force tens of thousands of valued employees –
including scientists, teachers, engineers and medical professionals – into legal and
professional limbo for years. The need for action in 2006 is urgent.
The undersigned organizations urgently request your support to ensure that U.S.
businesses and universities have continued access to necessary talent, and for the
U.S. to remain the world’s innovation leader. We urge Congress to pass the
provisions that would relieve the drastic H-1B and EB green card problems before
adjournment.
To remain competitive in the future and to help keep jobs here in the United
States, U.S. employers must be able to recruit and retain highly educated workers,
many of whom have been educated and trained at our own universities. Never
before has our country been in such a fierce worldwide competition for top talent.
Our competitors have stepped up efforts to attract these workers, while the current
U.S. visa system prevents U.S. businesses, universities, medical institutions and
research centers from doing the same.
Thank you in advance for your support of this critical issue. If we are serious
about remaining the world’s innovation leader, we must fix our broken
employment-based visa system, and we urgently request your support for reform
this year.
To learn more about the U.S. competitiveness crisis, please visit
www.competeamerica.org.
Sincerely,
20-15 Vision Solutions LLC
3M Corporation
Abrasive Technology, Inc.
ABS Ventures
Actel Corporation
Advanced Electron Beams, Inc.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
AeA
Agilent Technologies
Altos Ventures
Alvaka Networks
American Association of State Colleges and
Universities
American Council on Education
American Council on International Personnel
American Hospital Association
American Immigration Lawyers Association
American Meat Institute
American Organization of Nurse Executives
American Staffing Association
Amira Pharmaceuticals
Anaren, Inc.
Applied Materials
Applied Precision, Inc.
Associated Industries of Massachusetts
Association of American Universities
Association of Management Consulting Firms
Authoria
Avalon Ventures
Avancent Consulting Corporation
Axcelis Technologies, Inc.
Axian, Inc.
Ayoka
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Broadcom Corporation
Business Roundtable
CA, Inc.
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
California Chamber of Commerce
California Micro Devices
Cargill, Incorporated
Case New Holland
Caterpillar, Inc.
CIBER, INC.
Cisco Systems Inc.
Citagus Software (USA), Inc.
Coalition of Service Industries
College and University Professional Association
for Human Resources
Computer & Communications Industry
Association
Computer Task Group, Inc.
Conexant
Conflair – Answering the IT Challenge
Contemporary Computer Services, Inc.
CosmoCom, Inc.
Courion Corporation
Cummins
CVS Pharmacy, Inc.
Cymer
Deloitte & Touche USA LLP
Delphi Ventures
Deutsche Telekom Inc.
DynamicCity, Inc.
eBay
EDS
E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company
Elgar Electronics Corp.
Electronic Industries Alliance
ELT
Emory University
Employment Verification Resources, Inc.
Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc.
Enterprise Partners Venture Capital
Entriq, Inc.
Exxon Mobil Corporation
Fabless Semiconductor Association
Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation
Flextronics International
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy, LLP
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
Frye Electronics, Inc.
Funk Ventures
Galois Connections Inc.
Genentech, Inc.
Global Personnel Alliance
Globecomm Systems
Greater Providence, RI Chamber of Commerce
GXS
Halliburton
Hamilton BioVentures, LP
Harris Corporation
Harvard University
Hewlett-Packard Company
HR Policy Association
Hoffman – La Roche Inc.
i2 Technologies
iBASEt
IBM
Indiana Chamber of Commerce
IndTech
Indyme Solutions, Inc.
Information Technology Association of America
Information Technology Industry Council
Ingersoll Rand
Intel Corporation
Intelligent Optical Systems Inc.
Intersil Corp.
InterWest Partners
Introgen Therapeutics, Inc.
Japanese School of Detroit
Keane, Inc.
KLA-Tencor Corporation
Lam Research Corporation
Leadis Technology, Inc.
Lionbridge Technologies
Magic Software Enterprises, Inc.
MapInfo Corporation
Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council
Matheson Tri- Gas, Inc.
Metcam, Inc.
Michigan State University
Micro Encoder Inc.
Micro Power Electronics, Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.
Motorola Inc.
Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. (M-Flex)
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
National Association of Chain Drug Stores
National Association of State Universities and
Land-Grant Colleges
National Association of Manufacturers
National Foreign Trade Council
National Semiconductor Corporation
National Venture Capital Association
nCircle Network Security
nGimat Co.
Norwich Ventures
Novellus Systems, Inc.
NXP Semiconductors
Occidental Oil and Gas
OCIE from Donnell Systems
Omron Scientific Technologies, Inc.
ON Semiconductor Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Oregon State University
OVP Venture Partners
PA Early Stage Partners
PayPal
Performance Technologies Incorporated
Pfizer
Pioneer Hi- Bred International, Inc.
Politec, Inc.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Principal Financial Group
Progress Software Corp.
Qcept Technologies Inc.
QUALCOMM Inc.
Quantum Leaders, Inc.
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC
Robert Bosch Corporation
Routeware, Inc.
Rudolph Technologies, Inc.
salesforce.com
Seagate Technology
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials
International
Semiconductor Industry Association
Sequoia Communications
Sevin Rosen Funds
Shultz Steel Company
Society for Human Resource Management
Software & Information Industry Association
Soilmoisture Equipment Corp.
Solid State Measurements, Incorporated
State University of New York System
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
SUMCO USA Corporation
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
SureScan Corporation
Swiss Re America Holding Corporation
Symphony Medical, Inc.
Synopsys, Inc.
TechNet
Texas Instruments Incorporated
The Boeing Company
The Carlyle Group
The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
The Coca-Cola Company
The Intelligent Transportation Society of America
The McGraw Hill Companies
The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers
Association
The NASDAQ Stock Market Inc.
The New England Council
The Northern Virginia Technology Council
Therma Wave, Inc.
Trellis Health Ventures
Tripwire, Inc.
Tulane University
Tyson Foods, Inc.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of California
University of California, San Francisco
University of Michigan
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Vanderbilt University
VCFA Group
VeriSign
Vertex Inc.
VIMAC Ventures LLC
Vindicia, Inc.
Williams-Pyro, Inc.
World Wide Packets
Xilinx, Inc.
Yahoo! Inc.
Z Microsystems, Inc.
http://www.competeamerica.org./hill/letter_congress/index.html