His first act after taking over the subcommittee was to rush to Silicon Valley and ensure companies there that he would help expand a visa program specifically designed to give U.S. employers greater access to temporary foreign technology workers. That was a top item on the valley's Capitol Hill agenda. Abraham has worked since then to make good on his promise, and legislation is pending on the Senate floor. The Clinton administration also supports allowing more foreign technolgoy workers in the country, and industry officials say the United States doesn't have enough high-skilled workers to fill all available jobs. Meanwhile, ads by the federation are reaching newspapers, radio and TV stations in Michigan.
More political material is published on the federation's Web site.
The ads spotlight Abraham's push to expand the H-1B program, which takes its name from the visa the foreign tech workers are given to work in the United States for up to six years. Earlier this year, while running TV ads during the presidential primaries, the federation put the spotlight on areas in Iowa and South Carolina, attributing problems in those communities to immigration. For 20 years, the federation has been a nonprofit bullhorn for 80,000 members nationwide decrying the influx of immigrants. It was a force behind Proposition 187 in California, a 1994 voter-approved initiative denying some public benefits to undocumented immigrants. Key parts of the measure later were ruled unconstitutional in federal courts.