Once in a while a bill comes along that makes no sense. The foreign worker bill to admit thousands more H-1B workers is a good example. Every poll to date shows the majority of Americans oppose bringing in more H-1B workers. No government agency has found any credible evidence of a worker shortage. And efforts to eliminate fraud from the program are being watered down, and may be discarded entirely. In fact, the foreign worker bill only makes sense for one group: high-tech corporations. It makes you wonder why the bill is even being considered. And it makes millions of Americans wonder why you would ever consider voting for it.

Who are you going to believe? A handful of CEO?s of high-tech corporations whose sole focus is their bottom line? Or the growing chorus of millions of Americans who are stunned that Congress would even consider passing a bill to increase H-1B work-ers? Those Americans are angry, very angry. And for good reason. At this very moment, there are hundreds of thousands of job-ready and trainable Americans who desperately want high-tech jobs. But high-tech corporations have convinced some members of Congress of a worker shortage. Even though no government agency has found credible evidence of a worker shortage.

It all boils down to money. Big money for high-tech corporations because foreign workers will work for less. Americans know what?s going on with the foreign worker bill. So, before you vote for it, you may want to decide if the price is too high.

Originally published: June 8, 2000 in Roll Call Newspaper