Bill Gates presses for more work visas
Outlines goals before Congress
WASHINGTON - More investment in math and science education and a more liberal policy toward skilled foreign workers are crucial if America is to avoid losing its competitive edge in the world,
The shortage of scientists and engineers is so acute that "we must do both: reform our education system and our immigration policies. If we don't American companies simply will not have the talent to innovate and compete," Gates said in testimony to the House Science Committee.
Gates got a good reception from the committee, which was holding the hearing to mark the 50th anniversary of the panel's founding following the Soviet Union's launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957.
"We are on the cusp of another Sputnik moment," said Representative Bart Gordon, the committee chairman and a Democrat of Tennessee. "I fear that our country has coasted on the investment made in the last 50 years."
Gates outlined four goals he said the country must pursue: improving educational opportunities in science and technology, revamping the visa system for highly skilled workers, increasing federal funding for basic scientific research, and providing incentives for private-sector research and development.
The toughest sell was the position of Gates, and others in high tech industries, that Congress raise the current cap of 65,000 H-1B visas, nonimmigrant visas that allow employers to hire foreign nationals with specific skills. The program also allows another 20,000 visas for foreign nationals receiving masters or doctoral degrees from US universities.
Current limits, he said have led to a "serious disruption" in the flow of talented science, technology, engineering, and math graduates to US companies. Gates said Microsoft and other firms have been forced to locate staff in countries more open to skilled foreign workers. Last year, Microsoft was unable to obtain H-1B visas for one-third of the qualified foreign-born job candidates it wanted to hire.
Lawmakers have introduced bills to expand the program. But pro-immigration legislation is making little headway in this election year, and the H-1B program has been accused of taking away American jobs, lowering wages, or being abused by foreign companies in the United States to bring in foreign workers. 