Bush Calls for More H-1Bs

For President Bush, last Thursday was a day of prayer and Post-its.

By the time it was over, he had heard a polite pitch from rock star Bono to expand U.S. aid to the world’s poor, and had made a pitch himself to expand high-tech research.

The president encountered U2’s Irish frontman at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.

He then traveled to the 3M Co. — manufacturer of products such as Scotch tape and Post-its — seeking support for policy initiatives built around what he is presenting as the reality of the changing global economy: that competition is coming from new corners, and that a surge in scientific education is necessary to guarantee continued U.S. leadership.

And with more high-tech jobs available in the United States than people to fill them, Bush said, the country should admit more foreigners seeking jobs in those fields.

He called for expanding the H-1B visa program — which allows a specified number of foreign scientists and high-tech specialists to take jobs that Americans haven’t filled — a position Bush has taken since the 2000 presidential campaign, but one that he has not addressed frequently.

“There’s a lot of bright engineers and chemists and physicists from other lands that are either educated here or received an education elsewhere but want to work here,” Bush said to about 500 engineers, chemists and other employees.

He said Congress should “be realistic and reasonable” and raise the cap on H-1B visas.

Source: LA Times, Feb. 3, 2006

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