“What we are here to argue against is visa abuse, a systemic pattern of visa abuse that is putting American workers unnecessarily and unfairly at risk,” Senator Dent said.  “Moreover, we should not have immigration policies that facilitate the transfer of these jobs to other countries or that undermine state investment and state incentive programs.”

Speaking at a press conference today in the State Capitol, Senator Dent announced that he is introducing two Senate Resolutions in response to the growing outsourcing situation as it affects Pennsylvania’s IT industries.

The first resolution urges Congress to enact legislation to ensure that the H-1 B and L-1 visa programs are utilized for the purpose for which they are intended and not to displace American workers with lower-cost foreign visa holders.  This could be accomplished by closing existing loopholes in the visa program and by strengthening enforcement penalties for violation of current laws.

The second resolution directs the Joint State Government Commission to study the economic impact of outsourcing information technology jobs.  The Commission would further be tasked with reporting its findings to the Senate by September 30 of this year.

“I believe these steps, both here and at the federal level, are timely and they are necessary.  We have learned from the past that we can’t wait until millions of jobs are lost before taking action,” Senator Dent said.  “We must act now to prevent the unnecessary migration of IT jobs if America is to remain the same Land of Opportunity for all people and keep alive the dream that drew so many immigrants here in the past.”