John Hope Bryant: “the motion to recommit incorporates an amendment which the Committee on Rules would not allow us to offer in the course…”

“the motion to recommit incorporates an amendment which the Committee on Rules would not allow us to offer in the course of the debate on the immigration bill which would change the current law in a way that is beneficial and positive for American workers. The current law allows people to enter this country on temporary work visas, up to 65,000 a year, and to be put to work in companies where often they take the jobs of American workers. The fact of the matter is, that between 1992 and 1995 we had 234,000 foreign temporary workers enter the country and take the jobs of American workers. Mr. Speaker, the H-1B program that was created in 1990 was designed to alleviate some short-term needs with some temporary worker visas. It has now turned into a program in which companies have replaced, in some cases, entire departments with imported workers coming in on temporary visas, and they are allowed to stay as long as 6 years. This motion to recommit would change that program, and would say that, U.S. workers can not be laid off and replaced with H-1B foreign workers, that the temporary visa will only be good for 3 years not 6. It would require that employers dependent on H-1B workers would have to take timely, significant, and effective steps to recruit and retain sufficient U.S. workers to remove that dependency. It is an outrage that we have had situations in this country where companies have brought in large numbers of temporary H-1B workers.”