SKIL Act Ensures Tech Industry's Access to Educated Workers

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Securing Knowledge Innovation and Leadership (SKIL) Act introduced today by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) will drive economic growth and innovation by ensuring U.S. companies have access to skilled workers, according to Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) President and CEO Dave McCurdy.

"The reforms proposed in the SKIL Act are critical to guaranteeing that U.S. industry can continue to hire the workers it needs from around the world," says McCurdy. "The H-1B and employment-based visa programs have brought us tremendous foreign talent, and these smart people have helped fuel economic growth and innovation, leading to an improved standard of living for us all. These visa programs are broken, though, and that is going to take its toll on U.S. economic growth and competitiveness if we don't do something about it. H-1B shortages are well documented, and the backlog of green card applications is unreasonable This is unfair to hard-working, valued members of the American workforce who may have to return home or look for jobs with our competitors."

The SKIL Act will implement a flexible, market-based system to address a critical shortage of highly skilled workers. It will work by retaining foreign students who earn advanced degrees in the United States but cannot stay and contribute to the U.S. economy because of a shortage of high-tech work visas.

"The policy solutions contained in the SKIL bill are pragmatic and well-crafted to ensure that the U.S. economy continues to benefit from the contributions of skilled, law-abiding workers - many of whom we educate here," says McCurdy. "By protecting U.S. companies' ability to hire these talented, foreign-born professionals, Senator Cornyn's bill will enhance our global competitiveness and create more good jobs here at home for all Americans. The members of the EIA are deeply appreciative of the level of support in the Senate for these priorities. We're pleased that a number of Senators have joined together to introduce this legislation - whose provisions are also included in the broader bill under consideration in the Senate. It's clear that the Senate recognizes the urgent need to reform the legal employment based immigration system for highly educated workers.

The reform of visa programs for foreign-born professionals is a key priority of EIA's policy playbook, The Technology Industry at an Innovation Crossroads, released in 2004 (and available at www.eia.org/innovation). The playbook strives to foster a national dialogue on the future of innovation and competitiveness in the American economy.

EIA believes measures like Sen. Cornyn's SKIL Act reflect an understanding of how important innovation is to U.S. prosperity. "The best hope for the U.S. to maintain its edge against rising global competition is by fostering and expanding our most prized intellectual asset: innovation," McCurdy says. "Innovation has given the U.S. and the rest of the world wave after wave of technological advancement and generated millions of high-skilled jobs. If we want to ensure that successive waves of innovation begin in the U.S., we must respond to the challenge presented by other nations' economic success and plan for the future."

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About EIA: The Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) is the leading advocate in Washington, D.C., for the U.S. high-tech industry. The Alliance, which traces its origins to the Radio Manufacturers Association (chartered in 1924), is a partnership of electronic and high-tech associations and companies whose mission is to promote the market development and competitiveness of the $400 billion U.S. high-tech and electronics industries through domestic and international policy efforts. EIA's corporate members - nearly 1,300 - provide products and services ranging from microscopic electronic components to state-of-the-art defense, space and industry high-tech systems, as well as the full range of telecommunications and consumer electronics products. Headquartered in Arlington, Va., the Alliance is made up of the Electronic Components, Assemblies & Materials Association (ECA); the Government Electronics & Information Technology Association (GEIA); JEDEC; the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA); and leading consumer electronics companies who participate in EIA's Environmental Issues Council. EIA is also heavily involved in cyber security issues through the Internet Security Alliance (ISAlliance), and education issues, through the National Science & Technology Education Partnership (NSTEP).