STRIVE Act Hearing a stacked deck

Date: Friday, September 07, 2007 1:57 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1751 -- 9/06/2007 >>>>>

The House Judiciary Committee hearing on the STRIVE Act took place but it's
anybody's guess what was said. That's because CSPAN didn't cover it and there
is no streaming video of the live hearing available at the Judiciary website.
So far no transcript has been provided either.

You can go to the website for the hearing at this link:

http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings.aspx?ID=180

There were 12 witnesses that testified. It was a stacked deck. Only two people
who opposed STRIVE were allowed to testify -- Rep. Brian Bilbray
(R-CA) and Julie Kirchner from Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Surprisingly nobody from high-tech testified even though STRIVE has very
generous increases of H-1B and EB green cards.

In my opinion this hearing is a very bad sign that the House is ready to make
a deal on immigration. Previously we thought that new legislation would
originate in Senate first, but this hearing casts doubt on that theory. The
STRIVE bill must be stopped in the House because there is no doubt the Senate
will pass it the minute the House does.

The amnesty and guest worker visa increases are probably not even the worst
part of STRIVE. Hidden deep in the 700 page document are sovereignty
destroyers that implement the North American Union (NAU). Go to this link to
understand what STRIVE is really about:

http://www.vdare.com/mann/070326_mexico.htm

This web page has a good summary of the NAU legislation buried in STRIVE:

http://www.americansov.org/resources/legislation_2611_1645.html

I sent a request to the Judiciary Committee that they release a video and/or a
transcript of the hearing. Hopefully they cooperate. In the meantime I
provided three short articles below that described what transpired.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=10&articleId=9034719&intsrc=hm_topic

Bill seeking H-1B cap hike gets House hearing Patrick Thibodeau September 06,
2007 (Computerworld) A U.S. House subcommittee today held a hearing on
immigration reform legislation that includes a proposed hike in the federal
government's annual H-1B visa cap from the current limit of 65,000 to 115,000
and potentially beyond.

But no one from the high-tech industry -- which is pressing for an H-1B
increase -- was among the 12 people who were scheduled to testify. And the
planned focus of the hearing seemed to be on broader aspects of immigration
reform, according to written testimony that was released in advance.

In addition, the House bill is unlikely to be the vehicle for any increase in
the H-1B cap -- not this year, at least. The Senate's attempt to craft a
comprehensive immigration reform bill, also with a cap increase, failed
earlier this year, and that body isn't expected to take up another proposal in
the next few months. But H-1B proponents have said that a cap increase could
be proposed in other types of legislation, such as spending bills.

Today's hearing concerned the STRIVE Act of 2007, for Security Through
Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy.

The bill, introduced earlier this year by Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and
Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), would increase the number of H-1B visas that the
government could issue to 115,000 per year right away and allow for 20% annual
increases, up to a maximum of 180,000 visas, if the limit was reached. It also
would exempt foreign nationals who earn graduate degrees in the U.S. from the
H-1B cap.

Flake was one of the people expected to testify at the hearing, which was held
by the House Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Immigration,
Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law.

In his written testimony, Flake mentioned the H-1B program indirectly, arguing
that the STRIVE legislation "addresses the failures and problems with past
worker programs and charts a new course that better protects workers, while
more effectively and efficiently meeting the needs of employers."

But Julie Kirchner, government relations director at the Federation for
American Immigration Reform in Washington, said in her prepared testimony that
an increased pool of H-1B holders would be competing for jobs with U.S.
citizens.

"These provisions are a serious threat to high-tech workers in the U.S.,
including legal immigrants who have patiently waited their turn to take part
in the American dream," Kirchner wrote.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/06/striveact_1.html

Congress holds new hearing on immigration bill The STRIVE Act may still be in
play and, with it, higher H-1B caps

By Ephraim Schwartz

September 06, 2007

It appears that the STRIVE (Security Through Regularized Immigration and a
Vibrant Economy) Act of 2007 isn't quite dead after all.

On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees Border
Security, and International Law convened and on its first day took written
statements from witnesses on the bill.

The comprehensive immigration bill that caused such a furor earlier this year,
mainly over the issue of whether it was offering amnesty to illegal
immigrants, also addressed the H-1B visa cap.

The cap, now set at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 reserved for foreign
workers who have a graduate degree from a U.S. institution, would be raised to
115,000 for 2008 with a stipulation that it would go up an additional 20
percent each year that the quota was met, with a final cap of 180,000 visas
issued.

At the hearing, STRIVE Act cosponsor Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona did not
specifically bring up the issue of H-1B, but he did say that the STRIVE Act
"addresses the failures and problems with past worker programs."

Countering Flake's premise, Julie Kirchner, the government relations director
for the Federation for American Immigration Reform said, "These provisions are
a serious threat to high-tech workers in the U.S., including legal immigrants
who have patiently waited their turn to take part in the American dream."

In total, there were a dozen witnesses submitting written statements, but the
others did not address the issue of the H-1B visa cap.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0709/06/ldt.01.html

The legislation they started debating today is called the STRIVE Act, an
acronym, a clever, clever Washington acronym, for Security Through Regularized
Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007.

Those lawmakers are answering the call of corporate interests by planning to
allow even more foreign workers into this country.

And, as Bill Tucker now reports, they're doing it at the expense of our
middle-class American families.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Months after dying in the Senate,
comprehensive immigration reform is back and this time it's being brought back
to life in the Immigration Subcommittee in the House.

REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: I'm a bit surprised when I received the notice of
the hearing on a piece of immigration legislation. This clearly constitutes
amnesty. The American people have spoken so forcefully against amnesty that
the Senate was forced to reject it earlier this summer.

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D), TEXAS: I believe the American people want this
body to address this question. I was home in the district, and I can assure
you that this whole question of immigration has not left the minds of the
American people.

TUCKER: To call the STRIVE Act ambitious is not a stretch. The bill is almost
700 pages long, with tidbits to tempt the most ardent of critics. It calls for
an increase in border security, increasing the number of border agents, as
well as the use of technology. It strengthens interior enforcement and creates
a mandatory employer verification program.

REP. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: As I mentioned, it's tough border enforcement.
There's interior enforcement with biometric cards, so employers will finally
have the tools. And it sets up a new worker program for low-skilled workers.

TUCKER: It also creates a path to what it calls earned legalization, what
opponents call amnesty. Among the worker programs it creates is a new H-2C
visa with a cap of 400,000. It offers a path to legalization for workers,
their spouses, and their children.

JULIE KIRCHNER, FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM: By creating a
massive new H2-C guest-worker program and more than doubling the employment-
based immigrant visas, the legislation floods the market with foreign workers
willing to work for less and eager to compete with U.S.
workers.

TUCKER: STRIVE would also expand the H1-B visa program cap from 65,000 to as
much as 180,000 and create broader definitions for those who are exempt from
the cap.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCKER: Now, today's hearing was said to be for creating dialogue and
exploring the issue of comprehensive immigration reform.

Yet, of the 12 witnesses heard from today, nine spoke in support of the STRIVE
Act, all of whom openly expressed the desire to kick- start this legislation
again in the House -- Lou.

DOBBS: You know, at some point, listening to Jeff Flake, Luis Gutierrez, at
some point, are the American people going to inform, in clear, unequivocal
terms, this Congress, this president, that by God this country doesn't belong
to special interests, ethnocentric interests, the government of Mexico, and
Central and South America, but to the American people? It is nuts, what these
people keep doing.

TUCKER: They can try, Lou. But the indications today are, they are not
interested in hearing that.

DOBBS: And listen to that idiotic remark by the Department of Homeland
Security, we -- 145 miles of fence. Six years -- we're coming up on the sixth
year anniversary of September 11, and these fools still can't secure our
borders or our ports. And the American people, we are abject idiots to put up
with this kind of a government. I mean, what in the world is going on?

TUCKER: I don't know.

DOBBS: It is insane.

TUCKER: They have to go home and answer to their constituents, though.
That's the good news.

DOBBS: Well, they couldn't answer too soon or be addressed too quickly or
harshly, in my opinion, by their constituents. Thank you, Bill Tucker.

The STRIVE Act, what idiotic nonsense.

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