Weekly Update

Statement

Weekly Update

Fixing Our Immigration System

This week, the Senate will consider legislation to fix our country's broken immigration system. We need an overhauled system that's tough, fair to taxpayers, and returns to a rule of law. We must also be realistic about the 12 million undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S. The current system rewards illegal behavior, does far too little to keep our borders secure, and leaves our state's agriculture industry with too much uncertainty. Comprehensive immigration reform must secure our northern and southern borders while addressing the role immigrants play in our economy and the realities of our labor market needs. As we consider this bill, I'll work to improve the border security provisions in the underlying legislation, and add provisions to help our northern border communities deal with the high cost of prosecuting border crimes. I'm committed to keeping Washington 's agriculture industry strong and thriving, and will work to make sure the bill we pass helps ensure a consistent workforce for agriculture in our state. We have a responsibility to find common ground on this important issue, and I will work to get a good bill to the president's desk this year.

I'll also work to make sure American companies can hire the workers they need to fuel economic growth. Keeping America 's economy strong depends on good education and training opportunities here at home, but it also means getting help from the world's best and brightest when there are skill shortages. That's why I joined Senators Joe Lieberman and Chuck Hegel in introducing bipartisan legislation last week to increase the annual allotment of H-1B visas. These visas provide American employers with access to highly educated foreign professionals. With so many high-tech companies in our state, we need an H-1B visa process that meets employer demands while preventing fraud and abuse. Our plan would allow more of these visas each year. To protect American workers, it would prohibit employers from advertising jobs as exclusively open to H-1B visa holders, and would make sure companies don't hire more H-1B visa holders than American workers. This proposal strikes a balance and will help us invest in our future and keep our county competitive.

Keeping Northwest Industries on the Cutting Edge

Developing advanced composite materials and maintaining a highly-skilled workforce that knows how to work with these new materials are both key to keeping Washington 's economy strong. That's why, in 2003, I worked to create a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence focused on the use of composites in aircraft. This center combines the research strength of the University of Washington and the training programs of Edmonds Community College (ECC). The UW portion of this Center of Excellence specializes in composites research, while the ECC portion houses the nation's foremost composites workforce training program. Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee passed a new bill to reauthorize funding for the FAA. This legislation included a measure I sponsored to double the authorized funding level for the UW and ECC Center to $1 million per year. A funding boost will not only mean a stronger aerospace industry, but will reinforce our entire Northwest manufacturing sector as well. Washington 's composites expertise is currently helping to make Boeing's 787 a success, and plays a role in a number of other products, from more fuel efficient trucks to better armor for our troops. That's why I'll continue promoting this and other initiatives to keep Northwest industries strong.

Delivering Health Insurance to More Washington Children

There are 70,000 uninsured children in our state, many of whom could get coverage if we got rid of an unnecessary rule that keeps Washington from making the most of a key federal program for uninsured kids from low-income families. Congress created this program�the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)�in 1997 to cover kids from families that make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to afford private insurance. Three years earlier, in 1994, Washington started stretching our Medicaid dollars to cover the same kids SCHIP would later aim to cover. Unfortunately, when SCHIP was created, states that never covered this group got extra federal dollars, but SCHIP rules prevented Washington from using the money to cover anyone already eligible for coverage through Washington 's innovative Medicaid program. This rule has cost us $200 million in money we could have used to help cover uninsured children. An estimated 60 percent of the uninsured children in our state are not enrolled in Medicaid or SCHIP despite being eligible. If we got our full SCHIP allotment each year, it would help us reach many of these uninsured kids. Because SCHIP gives states a higher matching rate than Medicaid, allowing Washington to spend its full allotment would free-up even more state dollars. We need to remove roadblocks like this that stand in the way of covering more uninsured kids and I'm currently working in the Finance Committee to fix SCHIP so our state gets its full allotment.

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