Speech #1010043961

Mr. President. I am pleased to join Senators SPECTER and DECONCINI as an original cosponsor of the business immigration amendment to S. 358. which adds 30.000 visas per year for businesssponsored immigrants to the third and sixth category. A third category visa requires a degree or capability in science or business. A sixth category visa requires an undergraduate degree or a job which requires at least 2 years of experience or training. I believe that immigration that immediately contributes to our society should be an objective of our policy on legal immigration. This amendment is needed because the KennedySimpsonSimon bill addresses both independent and family sponsored immigrants. but inadequately provides for the categories of immigration most relied upon by the business industry. presently. business immigration is limited to 54.000 visas per year. and has remained at this level for decades. Over half of these visas are allocated to dependents of immigrants admitted to the United States under business categories for immigration. In view of the small number of visas now allocated to business immigration. there are severe backlogs and time delays in transferring highly skilled or professional personnel to U.S. businesses. Many businesses in my State. both small and large. service and manufacturing. which are representative of the national economy as a whole. must wait at least a year for professionals and international personnel with exceptional ability. and almost 3 years for other workers for which the U.S. Department of Labor has certified a shortage of U.S. workers. Obviously. it is extremely frustrating for the employer to plan on the presence of the employee in the United States on a permanent basis. given these delays. With current demand for about 85.000 business immigrants per year. additional visas are needed to help ease the extensive delays in the admission of workers with specialized skills. The proposed business immigration amendment will alleviate an extremely troublesome problem and. at the same time. enhance American competitiveness by the skills which these new Americans bring to American businesses. I urge my colleagues to support this important amendment to increase businesssponsored immigration.