Flake vs Pascrell on H-1B visas

Date: Friday, March 16, 2007 1:03 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1658 -- 3/16/2007 >>>>>

CNBC hosted a debate about H-1B between Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and Jeff
Flake (R-AZ). The debate was moderated by Erin Burnett who did a good job
that was slightly marred by a silly statement that she took it as
"religion" that we need to hire high-tech workers from overseas. It
probably wouldn't hurt to write her to convince her to change religions.
The show has a generic email address at: streetsigns@cnbc.com

Burnett was probably trying to be a devil's advocate but before getting on
her case let's keep in mind that most of the American public thinks the
same way. Most people I talk to are stunned and rather surprised when I
tell them that engineers and programmers have a tough time getting jobs.
Credit these myths to the PR campaigns by high-tech employers.

Flake was an idiot as usual, and just repeated the party line that we need
to staple green cards to every diploma of foreign students who major in
programming or engineering. Flake has always wanted more H-1B visas and
this debate was no exception,

Pascrell got more air time, and that's to Burnett's credit. Pascrell made
some good points, and it's encouraging to see that he is still promoting
his "Defend American Dream Act" which is one of the good H-1B reform bills
in Congress. I was slightly disappointed that Pascrell framed the argument
in terms of enforcement because that's not the real problem. As I have
explained many times, even if every company followed the rules we would
still have displacement of American workers. Most companies don't break the
rules because they don't need to -- the loopholes allow them to do almost
anything they want without breaking the rules. The real problem is labor
arbitrage, not enforcement.

Flake could have tied up Pascrell simply by saying the U.S. needs to double
or triple the number of H-1B visas with a promise to enforce the rules
better. None of us should feel comfortable with that. Pascrell said that he
doesn't want to increase H-1B visas past 65,000 a year. My career was
ruined when the limit was 65,000 per year so I strongly differ with
Pascrell on the numbers.

To watch the debate by online video go to the link below.

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http://www.cnbc.com/id/17629911

Want a Competitive America? Expand H1B, Congressman Says
By Scott Reeves News Writer | 15 Mar 2007 | 04:39 PMBy Scott Reeves
News Writer
CNBC.com
| 15 Mar 2007 | 04:39 PM
Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., told CNBCs "Street Signs" that expanding the
H1B visa program is necessary to assure the nations competitiveness and
future economic health.

The special visas, now capped at 65,000 a year, are used to bring highly
skilled workers into the country, including engineers, programmers,
architects, doctors and professors.

"As high-tech CEOs have said, we ought to staple a green card on every
Ph.D. diploma in computer science and electrical engineering," Flake said
Thursday. "We ought to recognize that 25% of venture-backed high-tech
companies were started by immigrants. If we dont allow the highly
skilled to stay here and work, then the jobs (they create) follow them back
to China or India or wherever."

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J. said, "That sounds good, but it doesnt work
that way."

He said U.S. companies hiring foreign engineers or other highly skilled
workers dont pay "prevailing wages."

"What these folks are doing for the most part is taking jobs away from
Americans who have gotten their degrees here, working at these jobs,"
Pascrell said. "But these (immigrants) will work for between $16,000 and
$22,000 less and they also wont take the same health benefits. This is
undermining the American workforce."

Flake disagreed, and said U.S. companies spend about $10,000 to complete
the paperwork alone and often pay a higher wage plus moving expenses to
entice talented workers to leave home.

Pascrell said better education at home would solve the shortage of
scientists and engineers.

Testifying before Congress last week, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said,
"We face a critical shortage of scientific talent. Theres only one way
to solve that crisis today: Open our doors to highly talented scientists
and engineers who want to live, work and pay taxes here."

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