Skil Bill amendment offered by Sen. Cornyn

Date: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 1:31 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1678 -- 4/24/2007 >>>>>

Yesterday Sen. Cornyn made a backdoor move to push The Securing Knowledge
Innovation and Leadership (SKIL) Bill. In addition to the stand-alone bills
that Rep. Shadegg (R-AZ) introduced to the House, and Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) to
the Senate, Cornyn offered the Skil bill as an amendment to S. 761.

Very few people paid paid attention to S. 761, the bill introduced by Sen.
Harry Reid (D-NV). It's one of those pieces of legislation that Senators
introduce just to say they are doing something.

You can read Reid's spin on the bill here:
http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=270119

At this time I don't have any information when the Senate will vote to
include the Skil Bill as an amendment to S761. Most likely it will be done
by voice vote during a regular session of the Senate.

There are so many pending attempts to raise H-1B it all gets kind of
confusing, so I'm putting a summary of the Skil Bill following at the end
of this newsletter. I'm also including a summary of the current bills to
raise H-1B. This list is getting very large.

The Skil bill is a disaster that must be stopped!

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

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2007_record&page=S4817&position=all

TEXT OF AMENDMENTS

SA 902. Mr. CORNYN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by

him to the bill S. 761, to invest in innovation and education to
improve the competitiveness of the United States in the global economy;
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of division A, add the following new title:

TITLE VI--SKIL ACT OF 2007

SEC. 1601 SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the ``Securing Knowledge,
Innovation, and Leadership Act of 2007'' or the ``SKIL Act of
2007''.

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

http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/issues/bills/?billtype=S.&billnumb=761&congress=110

'A bill to invest in innovation and education to improve the
competitiveness of the United States in the global economy. '
Bill # S.761

Original Sponsor:
Harry Reid (D-NV)

Cosponsor Total: 56
(last sponsor added 04/20/2007)

30 Democrats
1 Independents
25 Republicans

SUMMARY OF THE SKIL BILL (S. 1083)

o H-1B Visas: Increases the annual cap of 65,000 to 115,000. Automatically
increases the new cap by 20 percent each year the cap is hit, and creates a
new exemption to the cap for anyone who has an "advanced degree in science,
technology, engineering, or math" from any foreign university. No provision
was included that would reduce the cap if the previous year's limit was not
met.

o Conversion of H-1B to Green Cards: Workers are eligible for green cards
and would be allowed to stay and work in the United States for as long as
it takes to process the green card application. As long as an H-1B visa
holder applies for a Green Card, he/she can stay in the U.S. forever, so
effectively H-1B will no longer be a temporary visa.

o Employment Based Green Cards: The bill would increase the annual cap on
employment-based green cards by more than 500 percent, upping the current
cap of 140,000 to 450,000 until 2016 and to 290,000 thereafter and
exempting all immediate family members that currently count against the cap
today (spouses, children and parents) from the newly escalated cap.

o F-4 Visas: This new visa is perhaps the most pernicious part of the Skil
bill. It allows foreign students to work as they go to school, and then to
look for work for up to two years after graduating. They are put on a fast
track to a Green Card if they do find work, so they don't even have to get
an H-1B first! The F-4 visa will put foreign students in direct competition
for scarce internships, which will make it much more difficult for American
students to work and study, and to find work after graduation. When you
think about it, if there is a shortage of workers with advanced degrees,
why do foreign graduates who are supposedly the "best and the brightest"
need two years to find a job?

List of Current Bills to Raise H-1B Cap

* STRIVE Act -- Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

* H.R.1758 -- David Wu (D-OR)

* SKIL Bill -- Cornyn (R-TX) in the Senate and Shadegg (R-AZ) in the House

* Comprehensive Immigration Reform by McCain (R-AZ) and Kennedy (D-MA)

* S.1092 -- Hagel (R-NE)

* SA 902 -- Amend S 761 to include SKIL Bill by Cornyn (R-AZ)

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