Speech #1100044394

The bill Senator GRASSLEY and I are proposing would give the Government more authority to conduct employer investigations and streamline the investigative process. Currently. the Labor Department is only authorized to review applications for "completeness and obvious inaccuracies." Our bill would give the Labor Department more authority to review employers HlB applications for "clear indicators of fraud or misrepresentation of material fact." Our bill would authorize the Labor Department to conduct random audits of any company that uses the H11B program and require the Department of Labor to conduct annual audits of companies that employ large numbers of HlB workers. We would also increase the penalties for companies that violate HlB visa rules and authorize the hiring of 200 additional Government investigators to oversee and enforce the H lB program. Last month. the government began accepting HlB visa petitions for Fiscal Year 2008. In the first 24 hours. the government received 150.000 petitions for 65.000 slots. supposedly for the whole year. Based on last years statistics. it is likely that the top petitioners for visas were companies from India. They understand the system. They understand how to make this profitable. But this is not the way it has been described to most Members of Congress. It certainly isnt consistent with our intent. There is another program I wish to mention. the LI visa. The L1 visa allows companies to transfer certain employees from foreign facilities to the United States for up to 7 years. Experts have concluded that some employers use the L1 program to evade restrictions on the H lB program. because the 11 program doesnt have an annual cap and doesnt include even minimal protections for American workers. As a result. efforts to reform the HlB program are unlikely to succeed if the L1 program is not overhauled at the same time. The bill Senator GRASSLEY and I have prepared would reform the L1 program. We would establish for the first time whistleblower protections for those who call attention to employer abuses of L1 programs. and for the first time we would authorize the Government to investigate and audit L1 employers suspected of violating the law. Before we are persuaded to increase the number of HlB visas. we have to reform the program to protect American workers first and to stop HlBs from being used as outsourcing visas that send jobs and business away from America. That is what our bill would do. and that is what Senator GRASSLEY and I will be pushing for as the Senate considers comprehensive immigration reform legislation. I know this immigration debate is contentious. controversial. and some think it is politically dangerous. but it is long overdue. The current immigration system in America has failed us. We now have upwards of 800.000 undocumented immigrants who come across the borders each year. That has to change. We have to reach a point where we have control of our borders.