Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) welcomes the release of the House Republican Conference’s “Standards for Immigration Reform.” In its Preamble, the leadership declares that Washington’s failure to fix the broken immigration system is hurting our economy, and commits to working in a bipartisan manner to solve these problems. Regarding the legal immigration system, the document goes on to describe how the shortage of visas results in the export of labor and ingenuity to other countries as companies are unable to hire high skilled foreign nationals pursuing degrees here.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Ed Black:
“This is an encouraging sign that Congress could pass bipartisan immigration legislation this year. CCIA is gratified that House Republicans recognize the status quo’s deleterious effect on the economy, just as the President focused on reform’s economic benefits in his State of the Union address.
“The document’s commitment to a bipartisan solution responds to the President’s call for both parties in the House to get reform done this year. We hope that this common recognition of both the problem we face, and of the need for bipartisanship in solving it, will constitute a foundation for action on immigration reform going forward. Now that House Republicans have articulated their own brand of immigration reform, the process of moving toward a solution can begin — and we look forward to engaging with both sides to make it happen.
“CCIA has long decried the inability of U.S. companies to hire skilled foreign nationals at U.S. universities due to visa shortages as akin to unilateral disarmament in the global competition for innovation and talent. We look forward to enactment of immigration reform that results in visa and green card allocations that ‘reflect the needs of employers and the desire of these exceptional individuals to help grow our economy.’”