Mr. President. I rise to speak in support of S. 1723. the American Competitiveness Act introduced by Senator SPENCER ABRAHAM to increase the cap on H1B visas to allow our companies to continue to compete. We find ourselves in the midst of a booming American economy. now in its 87th month of the longest peacetime economic expansion experienced. and with the lowest inflation and unemployment (4.9%) in 25 years. However. we find that 350.000 information technology (IT) jobs nationwide are unfilled. As we speak. the ability to bring foreign nationals temporarily into the country on H1B visas to fill those jobs has been halted as of Monday. May 11. As of last Friday. the 65.000 H1B visa cap has been reached in this temporary immigrant category. New applications will be turned away and the information technology industry. as well as our universities and colleges will be harmed. Minnesota companies affected by this cap have aggressively supported this legislation. 3M estimates its projected research effort will lack 80 technical employees for slots paying between $60.00 to $100.000. 3M had $15 billion in 1997 worldwide sales.
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H1B immigrant visa visas