[BretLudwig]

Connecticuts Rep. Courtney Seeks Probe Of Pfizer, But The Real Problem
Is Still In Congress

[Rob Sanchez]

"Have you noticed that when a politician wants to pass the buck on a
problem often the response is to order a new government study?

This time around U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) wants to be perceived as
doing something about the fiasco at Pfizer by calling for a government
investigation of the H-1B visa program. Apparently the Americans at Pfizer
who are being forced to train their H-1B replacements are raising enough of
a fuss to get the Congress critters nervous.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney said Friday he will be calling for a government
investigation of a guestworker visa program that critics say has allowed
multinational corporations such as Pfizer Inc. to outsource thousands of
American jobs to foreign nations over the past two decades.

Courtney, D-2nd District, said his call for a probe by the Government
Accountability Office - Congresss investigatory arm - is tied to his
concern that the H-1B visa program is being misused by corporations at the
expense of American workers. His decision to ask for a GAO investigation
comes after a series of reports in The Day outlining allegations that
Pfizer is using large numbers of foreign workers at their R&D campuses in
Groton and New London in a systematic effort to replace their local
information-technology contracting force. Courtney seeks probe of visa
program tied to outsourcing, By Lee Howard, TheDay.com, December 6, 2008]

While its wonderful that Courtney wants to do another GAO study of
H-1B, he could use the ones that have already been completed, and then he
could actually propose legislation that actually does something to
alleviate the problems. Come to think of it, if Courtney really wanted to
do something about H-1B he could sponsor a House version of the bill in
the Senate by Durbin/Grassley (S. 1035).

The sad reality for the Pfizer people is that studies and new legislation
will come far too late to save whats left of the jobs there. Its far
too late for political posturing.

There are several good GAO studies on H-1B€“the problem is that everyone
in Congress ignores them. Norm Matloff described what happened in 2000
when Congress rammed the H-1B cap increase down our throats (AC 21 which
raised the cap to 195,000 per year):

About a month before the vote on AC 21, the GAO released a report
which was highly critical of the H-1B program. Yet the entire 19,000-word
discussion of the bill in the Senate consisted of praise for the bill; the
GAO report was not mentioned even once.[On The Need For Reform Of The H-1B
Non-Immigrant Work Visa In Computer-Related Occupations, December 12, 2003
(PDF)]

So why, may I ask, does Courtney want the GAO to do another report that
will be universally ignored by Congress?

Here are some examples of GAO reports, and there have been many others by
government agencies that came to similar conclusions.

* High-Skill Training: Grants from H-1B Visa Fees Meet Specific
Workforce Needs, but at Varying Skill Levels
GAO-02-881 September 20, 2002
* The Department of Labors Foreign Labor Certification Programs:
The System
is Broken and Needs to be Fixed, Audit Report, U.S. Department of
Labor
Office of Inspector General, May 22, 1996
* Better Tracking Needed to Help Determine H-1B Programs Effects on
U.S. Workforce, 1998

UPDATE: So far Courtneys website doesnt say anything about a GAO
investigation, so he may have been blowing hot air last week. I also
checked the Congressional Record and couldnt find any mention of
Courtney asking for an investigation."

http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2008/...l-in-congress/

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