S. 1723 - American Competitiveness Act
(Abraham (R) Michigan and 15 cosponsors)

Regrettably, S.1723 emphasizes providing opportunities for foreign workers rather than providing opportunities for and protecting U.S. workers. The bill's temporary increase in the annual number of H-1B visas is too large (up to 115,000) and lasts too long (5 years). In addition, the bill does not help ensure that U.S. workers do not lose their jobs to temporary foreign workers. Nor does the bill ensure that employers have made serious efforts to recruit U.S. workers for open positions so that qualified U.S. workers have the opportunity to fill a job before a temporary foreign worker is hired. Moreover, rather than strengthening program requirements and enforcement to prevent employer abuses of the H-1B program, S.1723 undermines some of the program's important enforcement provisions.

Since 1993 the Administration has sought reforms of the H-1B program, including: (1) requiring employers to make bona fide efforts to recruit and retain U.S. workers before hiring temporary foreign workers; and (2) prohibiting lay-offs of U.S. workers to replace them with foreign temporary workers. These reforms, if enacted, would help target H-1B usage to industries and employers that are experiencing skill shortages.

Also, the Administration believes that the first response for increasing the availability of skilled workers for industry must be increasing the skills of U.S. workers and helping the labor market work better to match employers with U.S. workers. S.1723 includes an authorization for a scholarship fund and a small fund to train dislocated workers, but it provides no funding for these programs. The Administration believes that increased training opportunities for U.S. workers should be funded, in part, through a modest H-1B application fee paid by employers. In addition, the Administration has called upon the private sector to establish training programs and partnerships with educational institutions to give U.S. workers the skills needed for these jobs. It also has urged industry to reach out to dislocated workers as well as segments of the labor force underrepresented in high skilled jobs. The Administration is eager to work with industry to help create these programs and partnerships.

Additional efforts to increase the skill level of U.S. workers and needed improvements in the H-1B program are necessary prerequisites for the Administration to support any short-term increase in the number of H-1B visas available for temporary foreign workers. The Administration wants to work with the Congress to develop a bill that addresses the growing demand for highly skilled workers, while effectively protecting and promoting the interests of U.S. workers and enhancing the international competitiveness of important U.S. industries.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

S. 1723 would increase direct spending and receipts; therefore it is subject to the pay-as-you-go requirement of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990. The bill does not contain provisions to fully offset the increased direct spending. OMB's preliminary scoring estimates that this bill would increase direct spending by $1 million annually during FYs 1999-2003.