ITAA Praises Senate For Passage of H1-B Bill

Business Wire, Oct 3, 2000

Business Editors

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 2000

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) today praised the U.S. Senate for passage, 96-1, of S. 2045, the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act of 2000.

"Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle see high technology taking the center stage of the American economy," said ITAA president Harris N. Miller. "U.S. spending on information and communication technology constitutes almost 9% of GDP. Given the high stakes involved, we are gratified to see a bill move forward that simultaneously provides release to companies in urgent need of appropriately skilled foreign talent, help stimulate new American jobs by growing American companies, and contribute to the reskilling of U.S. workers. Time in the congressional calendar is running short-the House needs to act quickly and the President needs to sign this bill."

S. 2045 would increase the number of non-immigrant alien workers annually allowed into the country on an H1-B visa from the current level of 115,000 to 195,000 over the next 3 years. An ITAA workforce study released earlier this year found a 12 month demand for 1.6 million IT workers. Because many applicants lack the requisite skill sets, hiring managers polled in the survey estimate that approximately half of these jobs will go unfilled.

The Information Technology Association of America provides global public policy, business networking and national leadership to promote the continued rapid growth of the IT industry. ITAA consists of 400 direct and 26,000 affiliate corporate members throughout the U.S., and a global network of 41 countries' IT associations.