House Hearing on H-1b

Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 5:23 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

March 29, 2006 No. 1448

Tomorrow the 29th there will be a hearing in the House Judiciary to discuss
whether the H-1B cap should be raised.

This hearing is critical because the stakes are so high. The H-1B increase
seems to be a done deal in the Senate, and there seems to be almost no
opposition to the emerging immigration bill that contains the H-1B
increase. Passage of the H-1B and F-4 increases may hinge on the House. Our
last hope of stopping the increase will probably be in the House where
opposition to amnesty is strong.

The hearing may be covered on C-SPAN but it will definitely be available
online.

You can view a live webcast of the hearing by going to this website and
clicking the calendar with the date. You will be taken to a page with the
webcast link.
http://judiciary.house.gov/

Here is some background information on the witnesses that's not on the
Judiciary website. There will be other witnesses besides the ones listed
below.

***** David Huber, Chicago *****

David is a 15 + year IT professional, focusing on high-end, complex
networking deployments, and network management/operations. He has been
directly responsible for about $1.4 B in technology investments and/or
business operations directly impacted by his work. Mr. Huber was the
LAN/WAN sole/lead network engineer for NASAs X-33 space shuttle project
(ground launch network) at Edwards Air Force Base.

David was laid off in 2002 by Com Ed in Chicago, replaced by H-1Bs whom he
had to train before his departure. Thereafter between the summer of 2002
and January 2006, he was only able to find work for a total of about 6.5
months. An excerpt from his draft testimony follows:

"I fully depleted my savings, and was nearly homeless on two or three
occasions. I had to visit the local food pantry. On thanksgiving 2004, I
had an apple, baked beans and water. I am talking hunger and homelessness.
Do I look like the face of hunger in America? Homelessness in America? I
had no idea the job market would turn out this way, and our labor market
manipulated and gamed that way that it is. I feel that my status as a U.S.
citizen, living and working in the U.S., has greatly diminished. On the one
hand, I dont have my latest clearance, so my citizenship can not help me
working on defense contracts. In the private sector, we have U.S. citizens
competing with non-U.S. citizens working here on H-1b, L-1, and other
alphabet soup worker visa programs.

***** John Miano *****
The former chairman of the Programmers Guild whos recent economic
analysis of H-1B impact on tech (programmers) wages, The Bottom of the Pay
Scale, was published by the Center for Immigration Studies. John testified
before the committee on H-1B in August, 1999.

For Miano's study, use this link:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2005/back1305.html

***** Dr. Delbert Baker *****
President of Oakwood College
He is very active in the Adventist church. I searched the web and was
unable to find anything that Baker has written on the subjects of H-1B,
immigration, trade issues, or globalization (if you can find something
please forward it to me). Considering that he is president of a college,
it's probably safe to assume that he wants more foreign student visas, and
probably more H-1Bs.

***** Stuart Anderson *****
Since Harris Miller's departure from the ITAA to run for the Senate, Stuart
Anderson is the heir apparent to the throne of the shills. Anderson is the
executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy
(www.nfap.net), an Arlington, Va.-based pro H-1B/outsourcing think tank.
Anderson formerly served as Executive Associate Commissioner for Policy and
Planning at INS, staffed Senator Spencer Abraham on the Senate Immigration
Subcommittee and was Director of Trade and Immigration Studies at the Cato
Institute in Washington, D.C. He is a frequent contributor to the ultra
conservative publication National Review.

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

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=63115

Immigration Subcommittee Oversight Hearing Thursday on Whether Congress
Should Raise the H-1B Visa Cap

3/29/2006 12:32:00 PM

Contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn, 202-225-2492, both of the House
Committee on the Judiciary

News Advisory:

WHAT: Oversight Hearing entitled, "Should Congress Raise the H-1B Visa Cap"

WHO: Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims -- Rep. John
N. Hostettler (R-Ind.), Chairman

WHEN: Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 9 a.m.

WHERE: 2141 Rayburn Building

H-1B visas are non-immigrant visas available to employers to bring
temporary workers to the United States who are in "specialty occupations"
and to fashion models who are of "distinguished merit and ability." H-1B
visas are valid for up to three years, and may be extended for one
additional three-year period. In order to qualify for an H-1B visa in a
specialty occupation, the employee must have a college degree or its
equivalent. Employers who wish to hire an H-1B non-immigrant worker must
first attest that it will pay the H-1B worker the greater of the prevailing
wage for that occupation or the actual wage it pays similar workers, and
must also attest that there is not an ongoing labor dispute.

Background...

-- H-1B visas are currently capped at 65,000 annually. In recent months,
the business community has been lobbying vigorously for an increase in
visas numbers for the H-1B category, which is primarily comprised of highly
skilled workers.

-- Proponents of increasing the H-1B visa cap state that highly skilled
immigrants increase the wages of native-born citizens and provide an
overall boost to the economy by making companies more competitive.

-- Critics of the H-1B program oppose increasing the cap because they
maintain that employers often use H-1B visas to hire cheap foreign labor,
undermining job opportunities and wages for U.S. workers.

-- Because fraud has historically been a problem with the H-1B visa
category, Congress in 2004 imposed an additional $500 anti- fraud fee on
all H-1B petitions.

WITNESSES: John Miano, author of a study on wages for computer programers
on H-1B visas; Stuart Anderson, Executive Director for the National
Foundation for American Policy; David Huber, high- tech worker from the
Chicago area; and Dr. Delbert Baker, President of Oakwood College (Ala.).

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

This following was received from the Mike Gildea, AFL/CIO - DPE

The staff has advised me that the hearing record will be kept open for both
individuals and organizations to submit remarks for the public record. I
would strongly encourage those of you who have specific, substantive,
direct and personal experience with H-1B to file your remarks with the
Committee. The tip sheet attached provides you with some helpful hints for
doing so.

FILING COMMENTS FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING RECORD

The deadline for doing so is close of business, Wednesday, April 5.

Individual remarks are limited to 3 pages.

Your remarks should be accompanied by a short cover letter to the Chairman
of the subcommittee expressing your appreciation for the hearing and the
courtesy of being able to submit comments for the hearing record.

The chairman (and the Subcommittee address) is:
The Honorable John N. Hostettler
Chairman
House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration
B-370B Rayburn House Office Building
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington D.C. 20515-6217

Include with your signature at the end of your cover letter your other
contact information-e-mail address, phone number.

Your submission can be faxed to Allison Beach, Counsel, Subcommittee on
Immigration, 202-225-3672.

Send a copy of your remarks with a separate cover letter to your Senators
and your Representative. Advise them that you were requested to submit your
comments by committee staff of the House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee
which held a hearing on H-1B visas on Thursday, March 31, 2006. Urge your
Congressional members to oppose any expansion of the H-1B program.

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