In a message dated 12/22/07 1:33:30 A.M. Central Standard Time, matloff@cs.ucdavis.edu writes:

To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter 104

John Bauman joins a pantheon of great former H-1B reformers who gave it
their best, only to find that the industry's stranglehold on Congress is
virtually unbreakable, finally deciding enough is enough.  He and his
organization, TORAW, did excellent work, and were very well received in
their home state, Connecticut.  They worked closely with Rep. Rosa
DeLauro, and with Sen. Chris Dodd. 

I think they've accomplished a lot more than they realize.  Bauman notes
in the article enclosed below "They didn't pass an increase, but they
also didn't protect the American worker."  True, but the longer there is
no increase, the more it should will be plain to Congress and the press
that those industry lobbyist claims to be in "desperate" need of H-1Bs
just aren't correct. 

Doesn't mean that Congress won't give the industry the increase anyway,
but at least they'll know they're doing it purely for the campaign
contributions--as opposed to doing it BOTH because of the money AND
because they think the nation benefits.  They'll know they're enacting
an H-1B increase just so that they and their party won't lose out in the
campaign funds.  As Rep. Zoe Lofgren said in a different context*,
"It's icky."

Norm

* Interview on KTVU-TV in the Bay Area during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9053947&intsrc=news_ts_head

December 21, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Five years ago, some unemployed IT workers
in Connecticut formed an advocacy group to fight against the H-1B and L-1 visa
programs. The group's strategy was old-fashioned for the Internet Age, relying on
face-to-face lobbying to reach out to federal lawmakers.

And  the  group, called The Organization for the Rights of American Workers
(TORAW),  was  successful  in getting visa-reform legislation introduced in
Congress.

But now TORAW is disbanding, according to John Bauman, president of the Meriden,
Conn.-based group.

Bauman said this week that he has made 16 trips to Washington this year and met
with about 100 legislators or members of their staffs to lobby for support of
legislation designed to protect the jobs of IT workers in the U.S. But he added
that TORAW is out of funds and that its membership has shrunk to a handful of
people, down from the initial wave of several hundred who signed on as members.

"People lost interest in the fight," Bauman said. Many of TORAW's members have
moved on, in some cases taking jobs in other industries. For instance, one of the
organizers is driving an 18-wheeler, while another is doing home repair work,
said Bauman, who has been focusing on TORAW's activities on a full-time basis.

If there is any hint of resignation in Bauman's voice, it's not from lack of
effort.  In  2003  alone, lawmakers from Connecticut introduced three bills
proposing changes to the H-1B and L-1 programs. TORAW also held protests, one
outside of an outsourcing conference in New York. One member of the group held a
sign that read: "Will Code for Food."

"I don't regret anything that we've done," Bauman said. "We tried our best."

Congress didn't approve a proposed increase in the annual H-1B visa cap this
year, despite intensive lobbying by the IT industry. But Bauman takes little
solace in that. "They didn't pass an increase, but they also didn't protect the
American worker," he said.

And although Bauman believes that he and other TORAW members have been effective
in spurring lawmakers to file bills, none of the measures that the group backed
have become law. That includes the Defend the American Dream Act of 2007, a bill
introduced this year by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) that, among other things,
would have required active recruitment of American workers by employers before
they could apply for H-1B visas (download PDF).

"We were heard," Bauman said. But he added that TORAW's efforts couldn't match
the clout and money of the high-tech industry.

Nonetheless, Bauman thinks it's critical for IT workers to seek out and meet with
lawmakers in their own states on the visa issue. The biggest risk is complacency
by workers who currently may feel secure about their job, he said.

Before co-founding TORAW, Bauman had no experience as an activist. He had held IT
jobs for about 30 years and was working as a consultant when, he said, he felt
that job opportunities were being lost to H-1B workers.

John Miano, founder of the Programmers Guild, a Summit, N.J.-based group that
also  has  lobbied against the federal visa programs, called Bauman "one of
America's true patriots" this week.

"The folks at TORAW carried more than their share of the weight for many years,"
Miano said via e-mail. "They were a bunch of individuals fighting the battle out
of their own pocket against an enemy that was spending millions of dollars on
hired-gun lobbyists to spread campaign cash among politicians."

Miano  also credited TORAW with convincing Congress in 2004 to approve some
reforms to the L-1 visa program, which is used for intracompany transfers of
foreign workers.