Gates: US needs H-1B visa, education reform to stay competitive

Bill Gates reminds members of Congress of the "critical shortfall of skilled scientists and engineers," as he urges H-1B visa, immigration, and education reform. Without such action, he believes the US will not remain a global leader in technology innovation.

By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- Electronic News, 3/12/2008

Microsoft Corp founder Bill Gates told members of Congress this morning that unless the United States takes steps to reform immigration policies, education, and investment in scientific research, it will soon lose its competitive edge in technology.

In what was likely his last appearance before a Congressional hearing before he steps down as chairman of Microsoft this July to focus his efforts on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the tech industry leader testified to the US House Committee on Science and Technology today in commemoration of the panel's 50th anniversary.

“I am optimistic about the potential for technology to help us find new ways to improve people’s lives and tackle important challenges. I am less optimistic, however, that the United States will continue to remain a global leader in technology innovation,” Gates said. “While America’s innovation heritage is unparalleled, the evidence is mounting that we are failing to make the investments in our young people, our workers, our scientific research infrastructure, and our economy that will enable us to retain our global innovation leadership.”

Gates focused his testimony on two points: First, what he called “a critical shortfall of skilled scientists and engineers” that can develop breakthrough technologies; and second, on the public and private sectors lack of investment in R&D at the levels needed to drive long-term innovation.

To remedy the “dangerous” situation, Gates called for a serious commitment from and partnership between both the public and private sectors to strengthen America’s educational opportunities, revamp immigration rules for highly skilled workers, increase federal funding for basic scientific research, and provide incentives for private-sector R&D. These efforts, Gates said, will allow the US to train, attract, and maintain top scientific talent while encouraging technology innovations from US-based companies.

As did his March 2007 testimony, much of Gates’ testimony this morning focused on H-1B visa reform. Calling on Congress to increase the current base cap of 65,000 H-1B visas, Gates reminded that only one day after starting the receipt of applications, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it had already received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2008.

“The United States will find it far more difficult to maintain its competitive edge over the next 50 years if it excludes those who are able and willing to help us compete,” Gates said. “Other nations are benefiting from our misguided policies. They are revising their immigration policies to attract highly talented students and professionals who would otherwise study, live, and work in the United States for at least part of their careers.”

Gates further called on Congress to create a streamlined path to permanent resident status for highly skilled workers. “Rather than allowing highly skilled, well-trained innovators to remain for only a very limited period, we should encourage a greater number to become permanent US residents so that they can help drive innovation and economic growth alongside America’s native-born talent. … The current [H-1B visa] cap is so low that it virtually assures that highly skilled foreign graduates will leave the United States and work elsewhere after graduation,” he said.

On the need for education reform, Gates called for full funding of the America COMPETES Act, which, among other things, would authorize increases in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Fellowship Program and the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program. The act, said Gates, would provide funding for about 1,000 more science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduate students than were funded in 2007, allowing the NSF to support more than 35,000 STEM graduate students during 2008 and approximately 41,000 during 2009.

“I want to emphasize that the shortage of scientists and engineers is so acute that we must do both: reform our education system and reform our immigration policies,” Gates said. “This is not an either-or proposition. If we do not do both, US companies simply will not have the talent they need to innovate and compete.”

Gates further testified that funding for basic scientific research should increase by 10% annually over the next seven years. “We also need to ensure that the private sector has greater visibility into the status and progress of federally funded research projects so that companies can collaborate more effectively with universities and other publicly funded researchers,” he said.

Summarizing, Gates said: “I believe this country stands at a crossroads. For decades, innovation has been the engine of prosperity in this country. Now, economic progress depends more than ever on innovation. And the potential for technology innovation to improve lives has never been greater. If we do not implement policies like those I have outlined today, the center of progress will shift to other nations that are more committed to the pursuit of technical excellence. If we make the right choices, the United States can remain the global innovation leader that it is today.”

Gates’ full testimony can be found here.