Speech #1100050496

Education. Labor. and Pensions Committee agreed to have a hearing at my request to discuss that. We could never get a hearing in the Judiciary Committee where the immigration bill came forward. We learned a lot about it. Everybody who learned about the meritbased system liked it. So the White House PowerPoint stated the bill would change the way we distribute green cards to focus more on merit. It described how the current green card system is "out of balance" and "favors those lucky enough to have a relative over those with talent and education." It noted how the United States currently dedicates 58 percent of the 1.1 million green cards issued each year to relatives and only 22 percent to people selected for their disabilities. This is the chart we had. It reflects that this is what the United States does. 58 percent of the immigration was based on relative ability. not merit. The PowerPoint noted how in other developed countries. Canada specifically. 60 percent of the green cards go to employmentbased immigrants selected for their abilities. The PowerPoint described that in the initial years "all diversity visas and some parentpreference visas would be used for merit based selectioncreating 100.000 openings in year one." Finally. the PowerPoint stated we would "launch a visa system that sorts applicants according to national needs and merit." The system was described as a way to boost U.S. competitiveness. emphasize education." and "make It easier for the best foreign students earning STEM (science. technology. engineering. or math) degrees at U.S. colleges to stay and work." Negotiators describing the merit system described the implementation of a point system which selects legal permanent resident applicants based on their skills. education. language abilities. and age. That is good. isnt it? You would evaluate people who apply based on their skills. education. language. and age.