Ted Poe: “Every year, competitive students from all over the world come to America to attend some our top schools, including the…”

“Every year, competitive students from all over the world come to America to attend some our top schools, including the University of Texas--Austin, for advanced degrees in the STEM fields. While these students are in school, many of these students fall in love with America, and our way of life. I don't blame them . . . who wouldn't fall in love with Austin, Texas and want to stay? And the thing is, there are employers right there in Austin and all over the country that want to hire these folks because there are not enough Americans graduating with these types of degrees every year. Sounds like a marriage made in heaven right? The problem is . . . the students often face a difficult time getting VISA's to stay when they graduate, even though there are employers who want to hire them. To rectify this, the STEM Jobs Act will cancel the diversity visa program and redistribute up to 55,000 VISA's to the best qualified graduates of American universities with STEM degrees. This legislation makes sense not only for the students, but it makes sense for America. Studies have shown that STEM graduates, on average over the course of their careers, create 2.6 American jobs. In fact, between 1995 and 2005, foreign-born STEM workers founded half of the firms in Silicon Valley. Think of how many jobs, and how much wealth, these firms created here in America. Wouldn't we rather have these jobs created here in the United States then in China or India?…”