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Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 02:02:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: chris.long@enron.com
To: jane.allen@enron.com, steven.kean@enron.com, richard.shapiro@enron.com, 
	joe.hillings@enron.com, cynthia.sandherr@enron.com, 
	stephen.burns@enron.com, tom.briggs@enron.com, sue.nord@enron.com, 
	carolyn.cooney@enron.com, james.steffes@enron.com
Subject: House Passes H-1B Visas; Bill Now Awaits Clinton's Signature
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Finally, the H-1B visa increase has passed the House and Senate and is on i=
ts=20
way to the President for his signature.  Jane Allen reviewed the provisions=
=20
of the legislation which meet Enron's requirements.  Enron has been a part =
of=20
the Americans Business for Legal Immigration (ABLI) which has championed th=
is=20
legislation.

Thanks to Allison Navin and Amy Fabian for great support on this issue. =20


EMPLOYMENT=20
House Passes H-1B Visas; Bill Now Awaits Clinton's Signature
In a strangely abrupt end to the protracted and often rocky debate on H-1B=
=20
visa increase legislation, the House late Tuesday approved a Senate-passed=
=20
bill by voice vote, and sent the measure to the White House for President=
=20
Clinton's signature.=20
The bill is largely designed to increase the number of skilled foreign=20
workers who can be hired by high technology companies, and Clinton has=20
pledged to sign it.=20
House Republican leaders made the decision late Tuesday to bring the H-1B=
=20
visa increase legislation up for debate and vote under a suspension of the=
=20
rules, just hours after the Senate had approved the identical legislation i=
n=20
a 96-1 vote. House leadership made the call after most members already had=
=20
left for the day--a move that invited criticism from some Democratic=20
legislators who complained about being caught off guard.=20
Democratic leaders were informed about an hour beforehand that floor debate=
=20
on the measure would begin. After a brief debate, the bill was approved by=
=20
voice vote--even though House Republican leaders had initially said that th=
ey=20
intended to bring the measure for a roll call vote today. The decision to=
=20
press forward was reached amid a House Republican leadership meeting, and a=
=20
second private meeting held among Majority Leader Armey, Rules Chairman=20
Dreier and Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas=
.=20
"I don't think there was much talk, if any, across the aisle," said one hig=
h=20
tech lobbyist. "I think they [Republicans] felt they had to strike while th=
e=20
iron was hot." This lobbyist also noted that key House Democrats--including=
=20
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.--had signaled early in the day that they were=20
amenable to taking up the Senate-passed bill, which is similar to H-1B=20
legislation sponsored by Dreier and Lofgren.=20
A spokeswoman to Minority Leader Gephardt expressed disappointment in the=
=20
short notice Democrats were given, calling it an "infantile" way to=20
legislate. "Let us know what the schedule is, that's common courtesy," she=
=20
said.=20
Smith was likewise displeased, although for different reasons. The Senate=
=20
bill differs sharply from Smith's own version of the legislation, which was=
=20
reported out of committee earlier this year. In his floor statement, Smith=
=20
congratulated Dreier, but insisted there was "no credible study" showing a=
=20
shortage of skilled American workers to fill the high tech jobs.=20
Said a Smith aide: "Time ...has overtaken [efforts] to produce a balanced=
=20
bill."=20
Lofgren, who said she had to be summoned back to Capitol Hill for Tuesday's=
=20
debate, called the Senate legislation "a very good bill that should become=
=20
law. I'm glad I was able to get into the carpool lane and get here in time =
to=20
talk about why this bill deserves our support," she joked.=20
Dreier acknowledged that debate on the bill had taken the two parties down =
a=20
"bumpy" road, but said he was pleased at the bipartisan outcome.=20
House Republican leaders had been hesitant to bring the H-1B legislation up=
=20
earlier this year, out of concerns that Democrats would use it as a platfor=
m=20
from which to attack Republicans on their immigration stances--those relati=
ng=20
to Latinos in particular.=20
But while Democrats such as Lofgren and Judiciary ranking member John=20
Conyers, D-Mich., indicated they would continue to press for a package of=
=20
Hispanic immigration provisions backed by the White House, they did not dwe=
ll=20
on the subject.=20
Democrats were more vocal with their concerns that the Senate bill could no=
t=20
include a revenue raising device included in the Dreier-Lofgren bill, which=
=20
doubled the fee that employers will have to pay to hire an H-1B visa worker=
.=20
Under the House bill, that money would go for education programs to ensure=
=20
that American workers earn the skills needed to fill these high tech jobs i=
n=20
the future. Rather than amend the Senate bill, however, Dreier introduced a=
=20
stand alone bill designed to adjust the fee. The H-1B measure raises the vi=
sa=20
caps to 195,000 per year through FY2003.=20
=01* By Pamela Barnett