Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 16:58:18 -0800 From: Norm Matloff To: Norm Matloff Subject: Rep. Pascrell's H-1B bill To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter The bill described below is pretty good. Its provision to require employers to recruit Americans before hiring H-1Bs looks weak, and as I've mentioned before, I do not regard enforcement as the major issue. But what is really useful is that the bill requires employers to pay H-1Bs the median wage for their entire occupation. For reasons I've explained before, this would be very effective. I estimate that about 75% of H-1B petitions would be rejected if the Pascrell bill were to become law. I find the final paragraph amusing. I agree that there is just one party in Congress, but not because the Republicans control both houses. Instead, there is just one party because the Democrats have basically become the same as Republicans. On the H-1B issue, for instance, the Democrats have been just as much putty in the hands of the industry lobbyists as the Republicans have. Norm http://www.montclairtimes.com/page.php?page=8762 Wednesday, December 08, 2004 By PAUL BRUBAKER of The Montclair Times Nearly a year ago, Montclair resident Sona Shah was one of many citizens who called on Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-8, to take legislative action against companies that abuse guest worker visa programs by hiring technically skilled foreign workers far below the prevailing wages of their American counterparts. Before this weeks close of the 109th Congressional Session, Pascrell introduced a bill that would provide reforms. "We, in the Congress, have a moral obligation to prevent our skilled workforce from being dangerously eroded," Pascrell said. His legislation, the Defend the American Dream Act of 2004, is specifically aimed at abuses of the H1-B visa program. This program had been introduced under the Clinton administration to aid the nations technology sector that, in the 1990s, was believed to be experiencing a shortage of skilled workers. Since then, however, businesses have used the program as a loophole to increase their profit margins by hiring skilled foreign workers for comparatively low wages. The foreign workers are often schooled in the business procedures and culture by the American workers they later displace. "They have to train these people and they lose their job," Pascrell said. "Then, of course, they are going to go probably to a job that pays much less. This is absolutely an unfair situation and I had to do something about it. Were talking about major corporations here...that are getting away with murder." One of those corporations was Shahs former employer, ADP Wilco, a British-based financial services company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing Inc., which was founded by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, a former Montclair resident. Shah, who became a naturalized citizen after arriving in the United States from India at the age of 3, lost her job as a program analyst for ADP Wilco in 1998. Last February, Shah testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations and outlined ADP Wilcos system of bringing programmers from India to replace American programmers. She said that the Indian recruits would become disgruntled once they understood that they were severely underpaid compared to their U.S. counterparts and were restricted by their visas from seeking better employment at other companies. "Were seeing exploitation of foreign workers," Pascrell said, "Theyre vulnerable when they come here, obviously, because of their status. Theyre subject to termination if they speak up about their mistreatment or their low wages." Pascrells legislation, which he said would be reintroduced when Congress reconvenes next month, provides for the following reforms: n Requiring employers of H1-B visa holders to pay the prevailing wage. n Requiring employers to prove they have actively recruited U.S. workers. n Centralizing enforcement in the Department of Labor by giving it the power to audit employers and investigate potential abuses of the H1-B program. n Establishing an H1-B visa fee to fund science and technology training grants for U.S. workers. n Establishing a private right of action, which would allow employees to bring private lawsuits to claim mistreat-ment. "No one is trying to shut down H1-B," Pascrell said. "What were trying to shut down is the immoral and preten-tious and expedient implementation of H1-B." The bill falls short of providing something that Shah and other displaced workers have been calling for: an an-nual cap on the number of H1-B visas issued. While some in Shahs camp are calling the proposal too little, too late, Shah said she was encouraged by Pascrells bill. I"m trying very hard to keep an open mind, "Shah said. I"ts just the beginning of what we can do." As Pascrells staff is actively seeking bill co-sponsors through December, Shah is counting on a cap being added to the bill when it is revised. She has recently seen the opposite happen on the Senate side. Just before Congress recessed for Thanksgiving, a revision was made to the Senates Omnibus Appropriations bill that expanded the number foreign workers admitted under the H1-B visa program from 65,000 to 85,000. W"hat Congress didis to give tech workers an early Christmas lump of coal, "said Michael Gildea, a lobbyist for the American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL/CIO) who testified before Congress alongside Shah. W"hen bad pieces of legislation are passed, you dont see much about it or hear much about it. Its just done at the last minute in the dark of night, and thats exactly what happened with this [Omnibus Appropriations] bill." Gildea said that he expected Pascrells bill would be reintroduced; it would just be a question of how soon after the Congress reconvenes on Monday, Jan. 25, 2005. "Our collective fear is that theyre going to come up with a guest-worker program thats not going to have very many meaningful protections. Im not sanguine about the prospects for real reform of these visa programs," Gildea said. To be sure, it will be a different Congress when it reconvenes. Both houses will hold greater Republican majorities a fact that was underscored by House Speaker J. Dennis Hasterts statement last month that bills would only reach the House floor if the majority of the majority supports them. Neither of these facts daunted Pascrell. "What we have is basically a one-party Congress in the House of Representatives, and if the American people accept that, fine," Pascrell said. "I for one will not accept it. I'm going to do everything in my power to bring these birds down. We need to stop the outsourcing of jobs. Because whats good for America is the most important thing, regardless of whether it comes from a Democrat or a Republican."