Speech #1100034042

This is a bipartisan legislative response to recommendations contained in the National Academies "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" report and the Council on Competitiveness "Innovate America" report. The one thing we have learned through the process of retaining Americas competitiveness is that everyone has to do their part to keep our countrys economy strong and viable. Currently. we are working very hard on comprehensive immigration reform and I am pleased to be a part of that process. However. our country. right now. is losing its competitive edge in the global market. Why? Because our immigration policies prohibit us from retaining some of the "best and brightest" students currently graduating from U.S. colleges and universitiesespecially those with advanced degrees in science and technology. We also continue to lose highly qualified and highly skilled workers to foreign competitors because of our failed immigration system. Recently Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates made it clear the dire situation we are faced with today in terms of highskilled labor shortages: "For generations. America has prospered largely by attracting the worlds best and brightest to study. live. and work in the United States. Our success at attracting the greatest talent has helped us become a global innovation leader. enriched our culture. and created economic opportunities for all Americans. Unfortunately. Americas immigration policies are driving away the worlds best and brightest precisely when we need them most . . . Moreover. the terrible shortfall in our visa supply for the highly skilled stems not from security concerns. but from visa policies that have not been updated in over a decade and a half. We live in a different economy now. Simply put: It makes no sense to tell welltrained. highly skilled individualsmany of whom are educated at our top colleges and universitiesthat the United States does not welcome or value them. For too many foreign students and professionals. however. our immigration policies send precisely this message. This should be deeply troubling to us. both in human terms and in terms of our own economic selfinterest. America will find it infinitely more difficult to maintain its technological leadership if it shuts out the very people who are most able to help us compete. Other nations are recognizing and benefiting from this situation. They are crafting their immigration policies to attract highly talented students and professionals who would otherwise study. live. and work here. Our lost opportunities are their gains." The U.S. Department of Labor projects that between 2002 and 2012 there will be 2 million U.S. job openings in the fields of computer science. mathematics. engineering and the physical sciences. The SKIL bill would retain foreign students educated in the U.S. to ensure continued competition in the global market. As I have stated before. a critical part of Americas economy is our ability to innovate but our current immigration policies are threatening future growth. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recent announcement that the 2008 cap for H1B workers was met in one day makes clear that we urgently need to reform our policies for 153. Pt. 6 8631 highlyskilled workers in the scientific and technology fields. Because the U.S. has already met the cap for H1B visas. foreign students graduating from our universities this spring are virtually shut out of the U.S. job market. This situation is unprecedented. If we dont act.