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China News Digest - US Regional Services (Bo Xiong) --------------- Date: Tue, 12 Dec 1995 13:00:21 -0500 Comments: Originally-From: Yu Uny Cao From: acca-2@ACCAIC.ORG Subject: National Committee on Immigration NewsRelease #9538 To: Multiple recipients of list CCNL **************************************************************************** Association for Chinese Community Affairs(ACCA) Public Broadcasting System Made possible by generous support from http://www.superprism.net/ **************************************************************************** >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> National * Committee * on * Immigration <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< News Release #9538 Tuesday, December 12, 1995 ============================================================================ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= The National Committee on Immigration is a coalition of Chinese Students, Scholars & Professionals who work against the anti-immigration bills +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= ============================================================================ 1. Editorial: Let's Stay Alert .......................................... 51 2. The Last Masterpiece of Alan Simpson ................................ 127 3. Microsoft's Gates Raps Immigration Proposal (Washn) .................. 93 ============================================================================ 1. Editorial: Let's Stay Alert .......................................... 51 Editor's Note: Times goes by fast. The Simpson bill S1394 is fading into the backdrop of our busy lives. Perhaps is not a bad timing for us to look back what happened in November, and to find out what's in store from the announced retiring Sen. Simpson. The first item below, "The last Masterpiece of Alan Simpson", reveals what Sen. Simpson's plan is. Simpson was doing what was what Rep. Smith did: combining the issues of illegal immigration and legal immigration together and making immigration a hot issue in election year. As Alan Simpson said, "Immigrants have done nothing blameworthy". This is precisely why his planned shake-up of immigration system is not as popular as he thought. One of his major argument was a population one: "It is simply that the annual addition of 800,000 new residents, including hundreds of thousands of workers, has some major consequences that the American people clearly do not want". But put under perspective, the argument is not well-founded: 800,000 is only 0.3% the US population. This country's prison population is three to four times of that number (, and we all know almost 100% of them are U.S. citizens ). It's no surprise that S. 1394 drew tremendous reaction from industry, businesses, universities and other sectors. Bill Gates said something many people would agree, "If you want to prevent companies like ours from doing work the United States, this is a masterpiece". Gates was on Washington on 11/28, one day before the bill was marked-up and voted in Senate Subcommittee on Immigration. Simpson finally withdrew the most unreasonable provisions in his bill, and said, "All the things that Bill Gates was concerned about are no longer there. After two weeks of watching the reaction of the business community ... I knew pretty well where we were headed". Although the worst provisions are gone, S. 1394 is by no means friendly to anyone who plans to working in the U.S. after graduation. Now, S. 1394 combined with S. 269, which deals with illegal immigration, is on its way to Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and it's expected to be marked up again early 1996. Let's stay alert. ============================================================================ 2. The Last Masterpiece of Alan Simpson ................................ 127 From R. Wang, ACCA Headquarters Senator Alan Simpson announced that he did not intend to run for reelection when his term ends. This anti-immigrants champion is, however, leaving the political scene with a big splash--he introduced this damning legislation to be remembered. The following is a brief digest of S 1394. The information is provided by Legislate Inc. a branch in Washington Post. Official Title (Caption): A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform the legal immigration of immigrants and non-immigrants to the United States. Introduced on Friday, November 3, 1995 OVERVIEW: Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., is sponsoring a bill [S. 1394] to reform the nation's legal immigration laws that closely resembles the recommendations of the bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform, led by former Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas. "Immigrants have done nothing blameworthy," Simpson said when he introduced the bill on Nov. 3, 1995. "It is simply that the annual addition of 800,000 new residents, including hundreds of thousands of workers, has some major consequences that the American people clearly do not want. They are demanding change, not punishment." The legislation would impose deeper cuts on legal immigration levels than a similar House bill [H.R. 2202] sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith, R- Texas. For example, current immigration law would allow 480,000 family- sponsored immigrants and 140,000 employment-based immigrants into the United States in 1997. For the same year, Smith's bill would allow in 482,000 in the family category and 135,000 employment-based visas. Simpson's bill provides visas for 450,000 family-based immigrants and 90,000 employment-based immigrants. The measure would eliminate unskilled immigration altogether to better protect wages and job opportunities of U.S. workers--especially those first entering the work force. "Americans are increasingly restless and dissatisfied that their will is being ignored," Simpson said. "They're fed up with being told--when they want tough immigration laws enacted to serve the national interest--that they're being cruel and mean-spirited and racist. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted by these wretched rhetorical excesses." Earlier this year, the Wyoming Republican introduced legislation [S. 269] aimed at controlling the nation's illegal immigration problem. That bill, which has already made its way through the Judiciary Committee, would double the number of border patrol agents; strengthen the employment verification process with a telephone ID check; increase penalties for document fraud and alien smuggling; ban aliens from receiving public assistance after 12 months; streamline deportation proceedings; and impose a border crossing user fee. OUTLOOK: On Nov. 29, 1995, the bill was approved, 5-2, by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration. Members then voted to combine it with Simpson's illegal immigration reform bill [S. 269] for the full committee markup, expected to be held early in 1996. The combined bills will have a new number at the committee markup, subcommittee counsel said. Last May, Simpson predicted that attempts by lawmakers to combine reforms of legal and illegal immigration in one bill would fail, but he changed his mind after public opinion polls showed the public felt otherwise. Part of his decision may be the result of the success in the House of Smith's dual-track legislation [H.R. 2202]. During a House Judiciary Committee markup of his bill, Smith was able to fight off repeated attempts by Democrats to separate the two issues, and easily gathered the votes to report his bill to the House floor with bipartisan support. Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee generally support most plans to curb illegal immigration, but some are convinced that reductions to legal immigration are inappropriate. "Many of these reforms are urgently needed, especially those designed to prevent U.S. firms from cutting costs by firing American workers and importing cheaper foreign labor," Kennedy said. "But I'm concerned that some of the proposals will hurt American families by limiting the ability of many U.S. citizens to bring their parents and other close family members here as lawful immigrants." At the full committee markup, Kennedy will offer amendments to restore visas to family-based immigration categories for the siblings and parents of U.S. citizens. Representatives from a broad array of business umbrella groups, from the National Association of Manufacturers to the Business Software Alliance, have formed another powerful layer of opposition to Simpson's legislation. The groups say the bill would cause "incalculable damage" to the economy, imposing unjustifiable taxes on businesses, threatening American jobs and undermining America's authority in the global marketplace. Among the more contested provisions in Simpson's legal immigration bill are plans to reduce employment-based immigration by 50,000 visas per year for foreign professional workers and to impose a tax on U.S. firms that hire foreign workers. The tax, which would fund training programs for American workers, would be equivalent to 25 percent of each foreign workers' annual compensation package. Business groups claim the most egregious provision in the bill would bar U.S. businesses from hiring highly skilled foreign graduates of American colleges and universities unless they leave the country for two to five years. "Access to the best world talent in the high-tech industries is essential to U.S. job creation," said Gary Shapiro of the Electronic Industries Association. "Critical talent must be available on a "real- time" basis. If enacted, the bill will effect decisions on where to manufacture and will result in a loss of mobility and access to pivotal international employees." If U.S. firms cannot hire the foreign-born engineers and programmers they need to develop new waves of technology, they will have to move their manufacturing facilities overseas, said Diane Smiroldo of the Business Software Alliance, which includes Microsoft, Lotus, and Novell. ============================================================================ 3. Microsoft's Gates Raps Immigration Proposal (Washn) .................. 93 WASHINGTON Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates Tuesday strongly criticized a proposal in Congress that would restrict the ability of U.S. businesses to hire foreign citizens in this country. But later in the day, the Senate sponsor said he would change his legislation to address concerns posed in recent weeks by Microsoft and other companies. In a wide-ranging interview with Washington Post reporters and editors, Gates called legislation by Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., to overhaul immigration laws ``an absolute disaster.'' Simpson plans to put the bill to a vote Wednesday in the Judiciary Committee. ``If you want to prevent companies like ours from doing work in the United States, this is a masterpiece,'' Gates said. Gates had a busy day in Washington Tuesday, making addresses at Georgetown University and the National Press Club. Later he attended a book party given in his honor by Katharine Graham, chairman of the executive committee of The Washington Post Co. His book on the future of information technology, ``The Road Ahead,'' has just gone on sale. At Georgetown, Gates unveiled a new Microsoft initiative aimed at helping educators use information technology. Starting next spring, Microsoft will make available to U.S. schools software they could use to reach the Internet or to set up in-house bulletin boards for use by teachers, parents and students. Gates also said the proceeds from his book would go to educational technology in 22 communities. Gates's comments on the immigration bill were part of a broader effort by high-technology companies opposing the legislation, which would reduce the annual number of permanent immigration slots for foreign workers with needed skills, and their families, from 140,000 to 90,000. The bill also would impose fees on employers that bring in foreign workers. U.S. high-tech companies hire many foreign citizens, who are often graduates of prestigious universities in the United States. Gates said the proposed new quotas are too low, and singled out a provision in the Simpson legislation that would require foreign students to work overseas for several years before becoming eligible for work visas in the United States. In a telephone interview Tuesday, Simpson said pressure from business groups in recent weeks persuaded him to drop the requirement that students first work overseas, as well as most of the fee requirements. ``All the things that Bill Gates was concerned about are no longer there,'' Simpson said. ``After two weeks of watching the reaction of the business community ... I knew pretty well where we were headed.'' Microsoft senior corporate attorney Ira Rubinstein said, ``we welcome the changes that have been identified. But it remains to be seen whether they go far enough to address businesses' concerns.'' On other legislation vital to his industry, a rewrite of the nation's telecommunications laws, Gates urged quick passage. But he said Microsoft has no ``strong opinions'' over lingering details holding up passage of the bill, which aims to deregulate and encourage competition in the telephone and cable television industries. Gates also dismissed what he called ``wild promises'' by telephone and cable companies that they would upgrade their networks quickly to deliver high-capacity television and computer connections within a few years. While he said such investments are at least 10 to 15 years away, as an interim step those companies should establish higher-capacity data connections over existing copper telephone wires and cable TV lines. Microsoft stock has been erratic in recent months, as investors have expressed concerns about oversupply and slowing sales in the software industry and analysts expressed doubts about Microsoft's role in the rapidly expanding Internet. The stock sold at $102.75 on Oct. 30, but dropped 16 percent to $86 on Nov. 20. Tuesday it closed at $91.50. In contrast, the stock for Netscape Communications Corp., a leading maker of Internet browsing software, Tuesday jumped 18 percent to $131 after Goldman Sachs & Co. put it on its ``recommended'' list. Gates said he was unconcerned. If Microsoft stock tumbles further, he quipped, he would ``go deeply into debt and ... buy back lots of the company.'' ============================================================================ **************************************************************************** Editor of this issue: Yu Uny CAO **************************************************************************** ============================================================================ ============================================================================ To (un)subscribe our acca-l mails, please write to acca-2-request@accaic.org with "sub" or "unsub" in the "Subject:" field, from your individual or local network redistribution account. You may also send your local redistribution address to hr1915@math.luc.edu. Committee on Immigration needs everyone of your support to protect our community and rights. ACCA's HR1915 infor-center is at http://www.superprism.net/~acca or ftp://wabbit.superprism.net/pub/acca or gopher://wabbit.superprism.net:70/11/acca National Chair of ACCA, Mr. Lin Huang ============================================================================ In Germany, they came first for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist; then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew; then they came for the Trade-Unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Trade-Unionist; then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I am a Protestant; then they came for me, and by that time no-one was left to speak up. --- Martin Niemoller --- ============================================================================