In a message dated 12/7/07 12:50:51 A.M. Central Standard Time, News@JobDestruction.info writes:

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER  No. 1796 -- 12/06/2007 >>>>>

After reading that doom and gloom newsletter about Noah's Ark, I just
thought I would send something more cheerful. The articles below would give
you the impression that an H-1B increase has very little chance of passing
by the end of the year. Now doesn't that make you happy?

It shouldn't and here is why: At this moment there is a major lobbying
effort on Capital Hill to get a visa increase. They want Congress to hide
an H-1B increase in one of the pending bills. Groups that are working the
Hill include Compete America, the Information Technology Association of
America (ITAA), Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC),
International Franchise Association (IFA), American Hotel & Lodging
Association (AH&LA), and Save Small Business (SSB).

I don't know about you folks, but when I see that much heavy duty throw
weight in DC at the same time, I get very nervous. You can bet that there
is a very close correlation between the "Noah's Ark" tomfoolery by Pelosi
and Zofgren and this lobbying effort. It's far too much of a coincidence to
believe otherwise.

Despite the good news in the two articles that are included below, you
should not conclude that an H-1B increase is dead for this year and here is
why:

* Towards the end of 1998 most of the mainstream media concluded that an
H-1B increase was dead. Clinton said that he would veto any attempt at an
H-1B increase, so the case seemed closed. In the dark of a December night,
the H-1B cap was increased from 65,000 per year to 185,000. Clinton signed
the bill into law as soon as it hit his desk.

* Towards the end of 2004, most of the mainstream media analysts concluded
that a lame duck session of Congress wouldn't be able to pass an H-1B
increase. Bush pledged he would sign any increase if Congress would pass
one. Then, near the end of December, Congress passed a 20,000 visa
exemption to the 65,000 limit. Bush signed it into law as soon as it hit
his desk.

Notice how similar the two events were? We need to make sure 2007 isn't
another repeat of history!

Clearly the H-1B lobbyists think that publicly conceding defeat is a good
strategy to lull the public into complacency. It's tough to tell if they
will get their H-1B increase, but they may win others that are probably
worse, like the F-4 and employer based green cards (EB).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/12/05/1205v
isa.html

or

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/business/stories/2007/12/05/H1B_CONGRESS.htm
l

Prospects fading for more H-1B visas
But some lawmakers hold out hope Congress will expand program for highly
skilled workers.
Click-2-Listen
By Eunice Moscoso
WASHINGTON BUREAU
Wednesday, December 05, 2007

WASHINGTON - With little time left in the Congressional calendar, high tech
companies are scrambling to get an increase in H-1B visas for highly
skilled workers this year, but the prospects are fading.

"Time is short, and it is a bit of a long shot, but the urgency of our
situation necessitates us continuing to walk the halls of Congress," said
Robert Hoffman, a vice president for government and public affairs at
Oracle and co-chair of Compete America, a coalition of high-tech companies
that includes Microsoft Corp. and Google, Inc. "As long as they continue to
talk to us, we have reason to be hopeful."

Hoffman said he is in discussions with House leaders and other key
lawmakers, hoping to attach an amendment to a larger measure. But the task
is difficult because Congress is facing a heavy agenda in the final weeks
of the year, including 11 "must-pass" spending bills to fund various
government agencies.

U.S. businesses say the H-1B visas, which allow well-educated foreigners to
work in the U.S. for up to six years, are vital to the economy and to
competition in a global market. Thousands of citizens of foreign countries
educated at U.S. universities are sent away, shipping future leaders and
innovators elsewhere, they say.

Jeff Lande, senior vice president of the Information Technology Association
of America, which represents more than 300 companies, said getting more
visas is his top priority and there's certainly a chance that it will
happen.

Lawmakers who strongly support the expansion also said there is still hope.

"There's always a chance," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

The number of H-1B visas allowed by law has fluctuated in recent years in
response to the U.S. economy and the highs and lows of the tech industry,
and it is now set by Congress at 65,000. In addition, 20,000 more citizens
of foreign countries with advanced degrees from American universities are
allowed to work in the U. S.

This year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services returned thousands
of petitions for H-1B visas after receiving more than 133,000 applications
in two days.

Critics say that the program depresses wages for U.S. workers and has many
flaws, including limited enforcement mechanisms.

Legislation designed to protect U.S. workers from being displaced by H-1B
employees has also stalled in Congress. The measure by Sens. Richard
Durbin, D-Ill., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, would stop businesses from
hiring H-1B workers who are outsourced to other companies and would give
the Department of Labor more authority to conduct employer investigations.

Durbin said it is unlikely that an H-1B increase would pass this year. "I
doubt it. We're running out of time."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://thehill.com/business--lobby/businesses-push-for-guest-worker-plan-fac
es-resistance-2007-12-05.html

Businesses' push for guest worker plan faces resistance 
By Jim Snyder 
December 05, 2007 
Businesses are scrambling to convince lawmakers to expand temporary-worker
programs, but they are running into a strong political headwind.


High-tech companies, nursing groups, hotel resort owners and others are
worried they could face labor shortages next year unless Congress acts.
Lawmakers, lobbyists say, have been reluctant to move forward on the issue,
however, in part due to the lingering fallout over last summer’s
contentious debate on the comprehensive immigration reform bill.



"It’s hard to have a rational discussion on immigration right now, and it
seems to be getting worse," said David French, the vice president for
government relations at the International Franchise Association (IFA).


IFA, one of several trade groups and individual businesses that rely on
foreign workers to come here for short stints in peak seasons, is among
those pressing for an extension of an H-2B visa program.
That program allows for 66,000 foreign workers to come to the U.S. annually
after the businesses go through a process that includes offering proof no
American workers are available to handle the need. The workers stay for
three-month periods to handle seasonal upticks in business.


For the previous two years, advocates had a relatively easy time convincing
lawmakers to pass language allowing temporary workers returning to work in
the United States not to count against the 66,000 cap, said Shawn McBurney,
a senior vice president of governmental affairs at the American Hotel &
Lodging Association (AH&LA).


Last year, there were about 123,000 workers allowed in on H-2B visas,
including the new workers allowed under the visa cap program.


But McBurney said advocates are running "into politics this year."


Lobbyists have stressed the issue is not related to the debate on illegal
immigration, as the H-2B workers go back to their home countries after the
seasonal employment needs end.


"They work in resorts, in remote areas. There is virtually nobody to do
these jobs," McBurney said.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) is pushing to add the fix to the
Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill. Members of the Congressional
Hispanic Caucus, however, have pressed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) to save the temporary-worker expansion as a carrot for lawmakers
to pass the comprehensive immigration reform measure, lobbyists said.


But that position "essentially sacrifices small businesses," McBurney said.


Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for Mikulski, said the senator would look
to add the temporary H-2B language to another vehicle if it is removed from
Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill.
High-tech companies, meanwhile, are renewing their annual fight for an
increase in H-1B visas programs, which allow highly skilled foreign
applicants to work in the United States for six years, as well as
employment-based visas that offer permanent employment status.


Ralph Hellmann, senior vice president for government relations at the
Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), said the current H-1B cap
of 65,000 workers does not cover the high-tech industry’s needs.


Domestic high-tech companies say immigration rules in the United States
will push more foreign workers to turn to companies based in Europe, where
lawmakers have eased legal immigration rules.


Kara Calvert, ITIC director of government relations, said temporary workers
on H-1B visas often have to wait years to achieve permanent status. For the
duration, their lives are "in limbo," Calvert said. Visa rules, for
example, prohibit spouses from working and employees from being promoted or
changing jobs, Calvert said.


The number of workers that gain employment-based visas, or green cards, is
capped at 140,000. But Calvert said about half of those go to the
dependents of workers. Business groups would like the cap raised to 290,000
workers and the number of available H-1B visas to double. But groups
representing nurses, accountants and other high-skilled professions that
use these visa programs are running into the problems that low-skilled
worker advocates face.


"It’s tough just because any time you talk about legal immigration,
someone hears ‘illegal immigration,’ " Hellmann said.


To get lawmakers to pay closer attention, the business groups are offering
to pay higher visa fees in return for higher worker caps. Hellmann said as
much as $500 million in new money could come from these visa programs,
which could help lawmakers close the gap between their budget estimates and
those of President Bush.


Hellmann said he hopes the increase could be added to the omnibus bill that
lawmakers are likely to take up before breaking for holiday recess.


For both parties, immigration has become a particularly tricky issue. Labor
unions balk at expanding temporary-worker programs, fearing they would lead
to lower wages and take jobs from American workers.


Republicans, meanwhile, risk upsetting big-business constituents in favor
of a grassroots base that insists illegal immigrants not be given
"amnesty." But the grassroots base has so far maintained a clear edge in
the debate.


An effort to pass a comprehensive reform bill in the Senate was met with a
huge backlash from opponents that helped kill the bill. Sen. John
McCain’s support for that bill was one reason political experts cite in
explaining the Arizona Republican’s slide in polls in the presidential
contest.


Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, was tripped up in a recent
debate over her support for a program in New York to offer driver’s
licenses to illegal immigrants. She has since said she opposes the effort.
And New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, had dropped his push.


The H-2B visa program got "sucked" into the debate on illegal immigration
reform, said McBurney, of AH&LA. That has made the lobbying effort tougher
this year, he said.


AH&LA is part of a group, Save Small Business, that is sponsoring a member
fly-in day on Wednesday and Thursday in hopes of generating more support
for the H-2B expansion.


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