Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1044, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this bipartisan legislation with over 300 cosponsors.

I want to thank Chairwoman Lofgren for her excellent leadership on this legislation which will end discrimination based on national origin in our employment-based immigration system and strengthen our economy.

Our current system limits the number of employment-based green cards to 7 percent per country, regardless of population. As a result, high- skilled workers from certain countries face backlogs of upwards of 70 years, while applicants from other countries go to the front of the line. That is not fair. This legislation ensures that all high-skilled visa applicants have an equal opportunity to contribute to American economic development, regardless of their country of birth.

Many highly educated and high-skilled workers who come to this country on temporary visas in the tech industry and other sectors raise their children here, are a part of our communities, pay their taxes, and want the opportunity to become lawful, permanent residents. This legislation helps keep families together, and it helps American businesses retain top talent, growing and making them more prosperous.

Mr. Speaker, it is long overdue that we end the discriminatory per- country cap on employment-based visas. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation. I salute the bipartisan cooperation between Chairwoman Lofgren and Congressman Buck.

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