Senate thumbs their nose at America
Senate thumbs their nose at America
Date: Thursday, November 03, 2005 11:04 PM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
November 03, 2005 No. 1362
Today the full Senate voted against the Byrd Amendment that would have prevented over 350,000 work visas from being slipped into the Omnibus spending bill. The list below is of the patriots that voted YES. Unfortunately the list is very short.
I don't know a better way to describe what happened in the Senate today than Lou Dobbs:
DOBBS: That is appalling, absolutely appalling.
I follow the Dobbs transcript with an article written by an immigration lawyer. Expect his shameless gloating to be just the first of many.
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http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00295
Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---14
Akaka (D-HI)
Byrd (D-WV)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sessions (R-AL)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Vitter (R-LA)
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http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0511/03/ldt.01.html
TUCKER: And today, the Senate had the chance to say no to more H-1B's, but they didn't. Senator Byrd of Virginia (sic) offered an amendment to strip out the proposed visa increase out of the budget reconciliation bill. Lou, his amendment failed by a vote of 14-to-85.
DOBBS: That is appalling, absolutely appalling. And we thought it would be interesting to you to see who those 14 senators were who had the guts to say enough on this issue. Standing up for our middle class.
Bill, tell us about these folks.
TUCKER: Well, what's interesting is, it's a bipartisan list. It tilts toward the Democrats -- three Republicans, 10 Democrats, one Independent. But only one state Lou, where both senators voted to take the bill out, and that was Louisiana, where you had Landrieu and you had Vitter, Democrat and Republican, voting to take it out and debate the issue independently of the bill.
DOBBS: Appalling, and good for those 14, perhaps their number will swell if courage becomes contagious and concern for working men and women in this country becomes at least, if not contagious, some people can awaken to the interest of the national interest there.
Thank you, Bill Tucker.
[snipped]
DOBBS: Many American companies just love our federal government's H-1B visa program. Under that program, corporations are able to hire foreign workers for jobs that should be going to American workers, and it just gets better for U.S. firms. A new study says 85 percent of those foreign workers who are receiving H-1 visas are paid well below what Americans would be making for the same job. It is just further evidence that the federal government is failing to protect our hard working middle class, as if we needed more evidence. Bill Tucker has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): H-1B workers in computer occupations were paid, on average, $13,000 less than Americans doing the same work last year.
In a soon-to-be released study by the Programmers Guild, 85 percent of H-1B workers are paid less than the median wage of an American worker. Not only that, those H-1B computer workers are at the bottom of the wage scale. Lobbyists argue that American businesses can't do without more H-1B's.
JOHN MIANO, PROGRAMMERS GUILD: We're being told that these are people that are highly skilled and that their skills are so important that the nation's economy depends upon it, yet they're being paid wages that are the bottom of the barrel.
TUCKER: The conclusion is easily drawn. H-1B's are cheap foreign labor, and Congress is ready to increase the number of H-1B's issued by another 30,000. The current cap is 65,000 new Visas a year.
However, there are exemptions, such as there are no limits to the number of visas issued to universities and research institutions. And up to 20,000 are reserved for foreign workers with graduate degrees from American colleges going to work for U.S. companies. Critics say American companies save jobs for H-1B workers and deny American workers those positions.
REP. BILL PASCRELL, (D), NEW JERSEY: I'm going to introduce legislation next week that says American workers should have the first crack at these jobs and regardless of what GE does and regardless of what Wal-Mart does and regardless of what Lucent does, give them the first opportunity at these jobs and train them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: And today, the Senate had the chance to say no to more H-1B's, but they didn't. Senator Byrd of Virginia (sic) offered an amendment to strip out the proposed visa increase out of the budget reconciliation bill. Lou, his amendment failed by a vote of 14-to-85.
DOBBS: That is appalling, absolutely appalling. And we thought it would be interesting to you to see who those 14 senators were who had the guts to say enough on this issue. Standing up for our middle class.
Bill, tell us about these folks.
TUCKER: Well, what's interesting is, it's a bipartisan list. It tilts toward the Democrats -- three Republicans, 10 Democrats, one Independent. But only one state Lou, where both senators voted to take the bill out, and that was Louisiana, where you had Landrieu and you had Vitter, Democrat and Republican, voting to take it out and debate the issue independently of the bill.
DOBBS: Appalling, and good for those 14, perhaps their number will swell if courage becomes contagious and concern for working men and women in this country becomes at least, if not contagious, some people can awaken to the interest of the national interest there.
Thank you, Bill Tucker.
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http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=10680
: Senate Votes Down Amendment That Would Have Crippled Nation's Global Economic Competitiveness
New York, NY 10165 November 3 2005
The U.S. Senate Thursday preserved America's competitiveness by voting down an amendment proposed Sen. Robert J. Byrd that would remove an increase in the allotment of employment-based and H-1B visas from the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Bill Reconciliation Act of 2005.
By a vote of 85-14, the full Senate overturned an amendment that would have levied a $1,500 per visa stealth tax on American companies applying for intra-company transferee visas, known as L-1 visas. These are used by U.S. and multinational companies to bring executives, employees and managers with specialized knowledge to work in the United States on a short-term basis. For many technology companies, these visas are essential to their ongoing operation.
In defeating the Byrd amendment, the full Senate approved a provision in the budget bill, which had already cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee, would ?ecapture?employment-based immigrant visas that were legally available but unused in previous years because of government processing backlogs, adding some 90,000 visas overall. Also, only employment-based immigrants, and not their spouses and children, would be included in the employment-based visa category. Lastly, it would also make an additional 30,000 H-1B visas available each year by maximizing numbers currently allowed under existing statutes.
These provisions now will be included for consideration by Senate and House conferees. The House version of the Deficit Reduction would still impose the $1,500 per visa stealth tax and would not recapture unused H-1B or immigrant visas.
Angelo A. Paparelli, managing partner of Paparelli & Partners, an immigration law firm with offices in New York City and Irvine, Calif., believes the Senate acted responsibly by overturning the Byrd proposal.
?he Byrd Amendment would have hurt our country's global competitiveness. It was bad for business and for the nation's economy,?he said. ?he Senators who voted against the amendment are to be commended for keeping our country? best interests ?op of mind.?With the Byrd Amendment behind us, I now hope lawmakers will move forward in authorizing the recapture of unused employment-based visas to give U.S. businesses the professional workers they need so they can do their part to expand the nation's economy.?BR>
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