Over the objections of the Clinton administration, the Senate voted Monday to expand a program to allow U.S. businesses to hire thousands of foreign computer programmers, health professionals and others amid reports of worker shortages in these fields.
The Senate voted 78-20 to lift a ceiling on a program that provides 65,000 temporary visas a year to let skilled foreign workers enter the United States. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.), would add 30,000 visas for the remainder of this year and raise the ceiling to a maximum 115,000 in each of the next four years.
Abraham called his bill “extraordinarily important to our country at this time if we wish to remain strong and competitive and we wish to have an economy that continues to grow.”
The administration had said this month that it “strongly opposes” Abraham’s bill and that Labor Secretary Alexis Herman would recommend President Clinton veto it.
The White House Office of Management and Budget said the bill “emphasizes providing opportunities for foreign workers rather than providing opportunities for and protecting U.S. workers.”
Current law provides 65,000 temporary visas a year to let skilled foreign workers work in the U.S. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has said the 65,000 visas for 1998 had been depleted, partly due to demand in the high-technology sector.
