Bill Gates Set to Appear Before Congress to Discuss H-1B Cap Issues Again

According to this article from Computerworld magazine, Microsoft's Bill Gates will appear before the House Subcommittee on Science and Technology on March 12. 2008. The hearing has been scheduled to discuss "the future of innovation and U.S. competitiveness."

Mr. Gates will likely appeal again to Congress to raise the H-1B Cap. Last March, he made what turned out to be prophetic statements concerning the H-1B Cap:

In his written testimony, Gates predicted — accurately — that for the first time in the history of the H-1B program, the supply of visas would run out before students graduating from college received their degrees. "This means that U.S. employers will not be able to get H-1B visas for an entire crop of U.S. graduates," he wrote. "We are essentially asking top talent to leave the U.S."

As discussed in an earlier post, Microsoft is one of many U.S. employers that has taken aggressive countermeasures to attract global talent in light of the H-1B Cap situation - including moving operations to locations outside the U.S. where immigration laws are more welcoming.