From: cnd-us@cnd.org (CND-US Editors) +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ C h i n a N e w s D i g e s t +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ US Regional Special Issue: Stop the Simpson Bill! November 13, 1995 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | CND-US, normally 1 or 2 issues a week, is a supplement to CND-Global and | | has basically no overlap with the CND-G news. CND-US provides in-depth | | information concerning Chinese students/scholars in the United States. | +-------------------------------ISSN 1024-9141-----------------------------+ Table of Contents # of Lines ============================================================================ 1. Stop the Simpson Bill! -- National Association for Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA) Calls for Nation-wide Urgent Action ................ 140 ============================================================================ CND is a free network news service run by volunteers. To subscribe to/unsub. various CND Services and/or for more information,see trailer of the package. CND-US is published by China News Digest International, Inc. All rights are reserved. Redistribution is hereby permitted provided that it is not for profit and with proper acknowledgement to CND. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Stop the Simpson Bill! -- National Association for Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA) Calls for Nation-wide Urgent Action ................ 140 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: NAFSA Network, Forwarded by: Bo Xiong Abridged by: CND-US [Editor's Note: For more information on the Simpson Bill, please see Nov. 3, Nov. 7 and Nov. 12 CND-US and CND InfoBase on cnd.org via anonymous ftp. ] Subject: ALL: NAFSA Update No.347 (Action Alert: Stop S.1394!) MEMORANDUM DATE: November 13, 1995 (12:15am Eastern) TO: NAFSANet Users FROM: NAFSA Government Relations Department RE: Stop the Simpson Bill! (NAFSA Update No. 347) ================================================================= STOP THE SIMPSON BILL! Summary: Senator Simpson's "Immigration Reform Act of 1995" (S.1394) will curtail the ability of colleges and universities to attract the best and brightest international students, researchers, and scholars. Your senator and other leaders on your campus must hear this message from you immediately. Action Requested: 1. Call your senator TODAY (telephone 202.224-3121 for the Capitol Switchboard; the operator will connect you with your senator's office). Tell the staff member who answers the phone in your senator's office the following: "I am an international educator at XXXX College in your state. The Senate Immigration Subcommittee is considering this week a bill that would both force foreign students to study in other countries and prevent our campus from bringing the most renowned experts in the world to teach our students." "In addition, cutting edge research done at our institution would be adversely impacted if we couldn't seek out the best researchers in the world for our school. S.1394 will harm our state, and I ask that my senator call Senator Simpson's office immediately to tell Simpson that higher education in our state is opposed to this legislation!" Ask for a written acknowledgement from your Senator; this assures that your message is passed along and not forgotten as soon as you hang up the telephone. 2. Send a message TODAY to your dean, provost, or college president, as well as to other staff you work closely with on campus (e.g., the personnel office, research department, and federal relations officers). Tell campus officials that you've just learned about a major immigration reform bill being considered by the Senate this week that would result in a dramatic reduction in the numbers of foreign students attending your school, as well as make it almost impossible to recruit international faculty and researchers. If you like, share with them a copy of summary posted earlier this week to INTER-L (the summary, "1FS5030 DOCUMENT", is available from INTER-L ARCHIVES/GOPHER, as is the complete text of the bill, "S1394 DOCUMENT"). Ask your campus leaders to contact their higher education associations in Washington (e.g., the American Council on Education, the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, or the American Association of Community Colleges, to name a few). Have campus officials urge those associations to get involved in this debate (those groups can contact NAFSA Government Relations for more information). Background: In short, international educators are concerned that the Immigration Reform Act of 1995 (S.1394) will curtail the ability of colleges and universities to attract the best and brightest international students, researchers, and scholars. Among the bill's provisions is a mandatory three year foreign residency requirement for any foreign student who has studied in the U.S. As a result, no international student would be allowed to accept a job offer in the United States after receiving his degree (including as a postdoc researcher on campus). While it is impossible to accurately predict the impact this prohibition would have on potential foreign students, it is likely that many of the best international students would choose to study in other countries that did not so limit a student's post-graduation options. In addition, the legislation would require any employer hiring a foreign worker (including colleges and universities employing international scholars and researchers) to pay that employee 105% of the prevailing wage for the position, as well as pay a substantial penalty fee (up to 10% of the employee's salary each year for short-term workers and 25% for a permanent position) into a private sector "retraining the U.S. workforce fund." The legislation is being rushed through the Senate, and is receiving only very quick and hasty consideration. S.1394 was introduced very recently (November 3rd), has had no hearings, and yet a final immigration subcommittee vote on the proposal is set for November 16th. The bill is universally opposed by ethnic groups, religious leaders, legal experts, and business interests. Yet politicians seeking to cast politically popular votes before reelection next year may vote for this proposal anyway. Conclusion: International educators must urge their senators to vote against this proposal, as it has been introduced, and respectfully request that the legislation be sent back to the drawing board so it can be re-written. The academic community stands ready to work with senators in crafting a new bill that protects U.S. workers from unfair labor practices, provided such a bill does not adversely impact educators' ability to attract the best and brightest international students, faculty, and staff to our nation's colleges and universities. +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Executive Editor of This Issue: Bo Xiong (Chicago, IL) | | Coordinating Editor of This Issue: TANG Hong (Colorado Springs, Co) | | CND Mailing Lists Maintainers: Kerry HU (Seattle, WA) | | Haosheng Zhou (Canada) | | CND Reader Technical Consultant: XU Ming Yang (Australia) | | CND Manager: Bing Wen (Canada) | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | China News Digest (CND) offers the following services: | | (1) Global News (Every Other Day) (2) US Regional News | | (3) Canada Regional News (4) Europe & Pacific Regional News | | (5) HXWZ (Weekly Chinese Magazine) (6) InfoBase | | CND back issues, database and related information are available via: | | ftp://cnd.org [132.249.229.100]; gopher://cnd.org; http://www.cnd.org | | For Readers in Canada: ftp://canada.cnd.org [142.132.1.50] | | To subscribe or get information, mail request to: CND-INFO@CND.ORG | | To contribute news, please send it to: CND-EDITOR@CND.ORG | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+