Speech #1090126267

And I am a proud cosponsor of legislation that has been introduced in the Senate: the Protecting Americas Competitive Edge (PACE bills) and National Innovation Act. But there is still more that can be done. Immigration policy must be part of any discussion of competitiveness. The United States does not produce enough engineersChina graduates four times as many engineers as the U.S.. and within a few years. approximately 90 percent of all scientists and engineers in the world will be in Asia. Foreign students fill that gap right now in the U.S.. but then our immigration policynot our economyforces them to return home because there are not enough highly skilled work visas. In the long run. we must improve our schools and encourage more U.S. students to study engineering and mathematics. But we also must adapt immigration policy so that when U.S. students are educated in engineering fields. there will be U.S. jobs for them to fill. With the SKIL bill. foreign students who graduate from U.S. institutions will be able to stay and work in the United States. The bill will allow companies to retain highly skilled and educated workers.