Erik Paulsen: “Every year, students from around the world come to the United States to access our high-quality education and…”

“Every year, students from around the world come to the United States to access our high-quality education and universities and colleges. And many of these students obtain doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and math, and have job offers from numerous employers that need their expertise and their skills. However, too often, our immigration rules send these graduates, some of the best and brightest minds who will be highly skilled workers and entrepreneurs, back to their home countries to become our competitors rather than helping grow and create jobs right here. Today, I am introducing bipartisan legislation, the STAPLE Act, with my colleague, Congressman Mike Quigley, to help fix this problem and keep America on the forefront of innovation. The STAPLE Act will exempt recent STEM graduates with a Ph.D. with pending job offers from H-1B visa quotas. Mr. Speaker, our immigration system is broken, and we must take action to ensure that the system is fair and that it keeps America competitive, and passing the STAPLE Act is a good step in the right direction. ____________________”