Political Quotes

“I again lend my support to the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act. I understand we may be voting at 4:30 this afternoon to waive the rules to allow this legislation to be considered. I am hopeful in the spirit of fundamental fairness the Senate will vote to allow a full debate on this issue. The focus of this legislation is the same word that I just used to refer to what I hope will be the disposition of the Senate, and that is 'fairness.' There has been a lot of discussion over the past few days about high-tech workers, H-1B visas. Our American companies need these high-tech workers. Unfortunately, there are deficiencies in the skill level of Americans which have resulted in the necessity of providing visas for specific high-skilled foreign workers to come to the United States to fill these jobs. I hope this deficiency will just be a temporary one and we will use the debate we are having on H-1B as a spur to do the fundamental reforms we are called upon to do to see that Americans have the skills to fill these high-tech, high-wage jobs. Until then, American industry needs these workers. High-tech industries are one of the engines that have been growing our prosperous economy. I want to see the H-1B bill become law. I am a cosponsor and a long-time supporter of this legislation. However, high-tech workers are not the engine of our economic growth.”