Finally, the H-1B visa increase has passed the House and Senate and is on its 
way to the President for his signature.  Jane Allen reviewed the provisions 
of the legislation which meet Enron's requirements.  Enron has been a part of 
the Americans Business for Legal Immigration (ABLI) which has championed this 
legislation.

Thanks to Allison Navin and Amy Fabian for great support on this issue.  


EMPLOYMENT 
House Passes H-1B Visas; Bill Now Awaits Clinton's Signature
In a strangely abrupt end to the protracted and often rocky debate on H-1B 
visa increase legislation, the House late Tuesday approved a Senate-passed 
bill by voice vote, and sent the measure to the White House for President 
Clinton's signature. 
The bill is largely designed to increase the number of skilled foreign 
workers who can be hired by high technology companies, and Clinton has 
pledged to sign it. 
House Republican leaders made the decision late Tuesday to bring the H-1B 
visa increase legislation up for debate and vote under a suspension of the 
rules, just hours after the Senate had approved the identical legislation in 
a 96-1 vote. House leadership made the call after most members already had 
left for the day--a move that invited criticism from some Democratic 
legislators who complained about being caught off guard. 
Democratic leaders were informed about an hour beforehand that floor debate 
on the measure would begin. After a brief debate, the bill was approved by 
voice vote--even though House Republican leaders had initially said that they 
intended to bring the measure for a roll call vote today. The decision to 
press forward was reached amid a House Republican leadership meeting, and a 
second private meeting held among Majority Leader Armey, Rules Chairman 
Dreier and Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas. 
"I don't think there was much talk, if any, across the aisle," said one high 
tech lobbyist. "I think they [Republicans] felt they had to strike while the 
iron was hot." This lobbyist also noted that key House Democrats--including 
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.--had signaled early in the day that they were 
amenable to taking up the Senate-passed bill, which is similar to H-1B 
legislation sponsored by Dreier and Lofgren. 
A spokeswoman to Minority Leader Gephardt expressed disappointment in the 
short notice Democrats were given, calling it an "infantile" way to 
legislate. "Let us know what the schedule is, that's common courtesy," she 
said. 
Smith was likewise displeased, although for different reasons. The Senate 
bill differs sharply from Smith's own version of the legislation, which was 
reported out of committee earlier this year. In his floor statement, Smith 
congratulated Dreier, but insisted there was "no credible study" showing a 
shortage of skilled American workers to fill the high tech jobs. 
Said a Smith aide: "Time ...has overtaken [efforts] to produce a balanced 
bill." 
Lofgren, who said she had to be summoned back to Capitol Hill for Tuesday's 
debate, called the Senate legislation "a very good bill that should become 
law. I'm glad I was able to get into the carpool lane and get here in time to 
talk about why this bill deserves our support," she joked. 
Dreier acknowledged that debate on the bill had taken the two parties down a 
"bumpy" road, but said he was pleased at the bipartisan outcome. 
House Republican leaders had been hesitant to bring the H-1B legislation up 
earlier this year, out of concerns that Democrats would use it as a platform 
from which to attack Republicans on their immigration stances--those relating 
to Latinos in particular. 
But while Democrats such as Lofgren and Judiciary ranking member John 
Conyers, D-Mich., indicated they would continue to press for a package of 
Hispanic immigration provisions backed by the White House, they did not dwell 
on the subject. 
Democrats were more vocal with their concerns that the Senate bill could not 
include a revenue raising device included in the Dreier-Lofgren bill, which 
doubled the fee that employers will have to pay to hire an H-1B visa worker. 
Under the House bill, that money would go for education programs to ensure 
that American workers earn the skills needed to fill these high tech jobs in 
the future. Rather than amend the Senate bill, however, Dreier introduced a 
stand alone bill designed to adjust the fee. The H-1B measure raises the visa 
caps to 195,000 per year through FY2003. 
* By Pamela Barnett