The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) today called on the Senate to reject the Feinstein-Grassley amendment to S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. The amendment would impose a hard cap on the number of visas issued in the H-1B visa program, thus eliminating a provision allowing market-based adjustments to the total.

"The amendment would eliminate key provisions of the bill that are designed to strengthen U.S. competitiveness," said ITAA Senior Vice President Jeff Lande. "The market-based adjustment provision sets a mark and allows the system to adjust itself, based on market need. That is a vast improvement over the current system, which exhausts the available number before the end of the fiscal year and leaves companies in the lurch."

Lande said the talents and skills of H-1B visa holders are critical to U.S. competitiveness. "Other countries in the developed world are removing barriers to talent in order to enable a more globally competitive workforce. The Feinstein-Grassley amendment substitutes bureaucratic process for what is in the long-term best interests of the American economy and American people. We call on the Senate to reject this amendment." KW