10 March 2003 The Honorable Dennis Hastert Dear
Rep. Hastert: I am writing on behalf
of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - United States of
America (IEEE-USA) to ask for your support to limit the authorized number of
H-1B visas available for admission of skilled non-U.S. labor at a time of
significant unemployment and displacement among U.S. engineers and
scientists. We also urge you to shift training fees accumulated
through the H-1B petition process away from the current emphasis on
entry-level training of lower-skilled workers, instead making funds
available through direct grants, tuition assistance or other means to
support the retraining of skilled S&E workers, especially those workers
who have been displaced. Despite historically
high-levels of unemployment among electrical engineers, computer scientists
and engineers in other technical disciplines, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service is reporting that it processed 294,100 new, renewed
and exempt category H-1B visa petitions in 2002, bringing the two year total
in the three categories to 799,700. The annual H-1B visa quota
of 195,000 new visas expires at the end of this fiscal year, and should be
allowed to return to the previously authorized level of 65,000, which can be
accomplished if Congress simply takes no action. IEEE-USA is an
organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, Inc., created in 1973 to promote the careers and public-policy
interests of the more than 235,000 electrical, electronics, computer and
software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. On behalf of our
members who are your constituents, we appreciate your consideration and look
for your support. Sincerely, James V. Leonard | Top of Page | Policy Log | Public Policy Forum | IEEE-USA | Last Update:
28 Feb. 2003 Copyright ©
2003, The
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. |
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