The House approved legislation on Thursday to allow the US computer industry to bring in more than 300,000 high-tech foreign workers over the next three years to meet a shortage of skilled employees.
The vote follows feverish negotiations late Wednesday between The White House and Senate Republicans to reach a compromise agreement on a bill. The bill is now expected to move quickly to the President for signing.
A bill by Abraham to expand the H-1B visa program easily cleared the Senate in May, but similar legislation had stalled in the House, where the White House joined a mostly Democratic coalition in calling for fewer visas and stricter protections for American workers. With the White House threatening a veto, scheduled votes were put off twice: once before Congress recessed in August and again last Thursday.
Wednesday's deal, brokered between the White House's National Economic Council, or NEC, and Senator Abraham's office, still figures to face some opposition in the House, where labor unions hold more sway than in the Senate. But the White House said gains it made over the pending Republican bill, along with the president's support, should win enough Democratic support for the bill to gain passage.
"They were tough negotiations, and obviously in tough negotiations you don't get everything you want," said NEC staffer Jake Siewert. "But all along we've said we wanted to help the industry address the labor-shortage issue, and we think this bill will do that while also providing the necessary protections, along with the funding for training and education that we think is so important."
Under the new deal, the number of H-1B temporary worker visas will rise from 65,000 in the fiscal year ending 30 September to 115,000 in 1999 and 2000, before falling to 107,500 in 2001. The visa limit would return to 65,000 in 2002.
The return to current levels comes a year earlier than what Republicans had sought. Wording in the GOP legislation called for limits of 95,000 in 1999, 105,000 in 2000, and 115,000 in both 2001 and 2002, before returning to 65,000 in 2003.
While the White House was able to gain ground on the number of new visas allowed -- 142,500 over the next four years instead of 170,000 -- its gains on worker protections appeared more modest. It had hoped to give the Labor Department broad new powers to investigate abuses of the H-1B program, but had to settle for strict language.
For instance, in the absence of an actual worker complaint, the Labor Department will need to have "specific and credible evidence" to launch an investigation of suspected abuses.
"That was definitely the toughest issue (in the negotiations)," said McMonigle, the Abraham aide. "We were able to get language that we think ensures that companies aren't going to be plagued by hordes of investigators looking into their every move. That would have just left them in a worse position than they are now."
The bill does require "H-1B dependent" employers seeking to hire H-1B workers to attest that they tried to recruit US workers and that they have not displaced qualified US workers. However, most companies with fewer than 50 employees, along with larger companies with less than 15 percent H-1B employees, are not subject to that requirement.
The bill does call for stiffer penalties for violations of the law, and assesses a US$500 fee for each H-1B petition and renewal. That fee is expected to raise about $75 million in each of the next three years for education and training programs.
