Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates stepped in front of Congress
on Wednesday for another shot at persuading them to allow more foreign-born
engineers to work in the United States for longer time. He
also made it a point to bring forth the idea of improvements on science and
math education.
While in front of the U.S. House Committee on Science and
Technology, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary, Gates
focused on U.S. competitiveness and the need for the U.S. to drastically reform
its immigration program in order to give jobs to highly skilled workers. He also called for investments in basic
research, education, and work-force development.
“I know we all want the United States to continue to be the
world’s center for innovation. But our position as the global leader in
innovation is at risk,” Gates said. “If this nation is to continue to be the
global center of innovation, Congress, the current administration and the next
president must act decisively.”
Gates posed arguments, charging at Congress on several
different fronts. He demonstrated the importance
of improving science and math education in the U.S. He claimed that the U.S. is seeing a “shortfall”
on scientists and engineers with necessary skills for producing future technologies. Gates concluded the presentation by suggesting that
Congress utilize data more than before to measure the improvements among
students.
The morning heated up when Gates moved onto the keynote of his
appeal: immigration. He argued that
immigration policies need to be reformed to allow a raise in H-1B visa
cap. He claimed that even Microsoft saw
the consequence of the current system when the company was only able to hire on
a third of the highly-qualified H-1B visa holders it wanted. He also states that
it is absurd for the U.S. to educate people then turn them around and send them
home.
“At a time when talent is the key to economic success, it
makes no sense to educate people in our universities, often subsidized by U.S. taxpayers,
and then insist that they return home,” Gates argued. “To address the shortage
of scientists and engineers, we must ... reform our education system and our
immigration policies. If we don’t, American companies simply will not have the
talent they need to innovate and compete.”
His prominent goal is to extend the time H-1B visa holders
can stay within the United States and make up for what Gates claims is the lack
of highly skilled scientist and engineers.
The problem which critics in Congress pointed out is the
availability in jobs for U.S. citizens.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calf.) pointed out that by extending visas,
American students would be displaced from those jobs. Gates shot back, claiming that hiring top
visa-holding engineers would create jobs for more average Americans.
Congress hasn't made a decision and may not in the near
future. Immigration reform has been a
hot button issue for several years and we may not see results for several more.