From: Merrill W. Buckley, Jr. - IEEE-USA President

Subject: Improving Communications with U.S. Members

The IEEE, as the largest technical professional society in the world, must
continually work to improve its internal communications.

Having served in a number of IEEE volunteer positions, I find that IEEE/USA
and its professional activities hold my greatest interests. In my opinion,
IEEE-USA volunteers and staff are doing an outstanding job and what we are
doing is what the overwhelming number of our U.S. members want us to do.
This said, however, there is considerable frustration in that too many
members indicate they are unfamiliar with the details of our policies,
positions, products, and services. This must be corrected and we are
working hard at it.

You can be a big help and I seek your participation. Communicating with
230,000 U.S. members in a timely fashion and in a way that captures their
attention can be very expensive. But, you have already set up one of the
IEEE's best information networks -- through your newsletters -- and they go
to everyone.

Beginning with this letter, you will receive a monthly IEEE-USA President's
Column, which we encourage you to include in (or with) your newsletter
mailings. The topics will be timely and to the point. We would like your
members to interact with what we say, if they so desire.

You can use this for Section discussions. We are always open to all
opinions and suggestions.

Thank you for any help you can give us.

(first column follows)

From the President of IEEE-USA
Merrill W. Buckley, Jr.

The H1-B Guest Worker Legislation

Why is an issue "HI-B Guest Worker Visa" important? And why is IEEE-USA
taking a position on it?

These are important and controversial questions and they deserve straight
answers. In
this--the first of a series of IEEE-USA President's Columns--on different
topics, I will try to answer them for you.

First, the H1-B is a non-immigrant visa that allows foreign workers, mostly
in high-tech fields, to live and work in the United States. Because the
normal green card system does not work well, the H-1B has increasingly
become the easiest option for would-be permanent immigrants. Yet it remains
a temporary visa.

So, the H1-B issue is critical in several ways. First, it directly affects
U.S. electrical, electronic, and computer engineers, programmers, and many
other high-tech fields. Clearly, large numbers of new workers in technical
fields have an impact on those who are already here working in the same
areas. It is also a concern for students who will be graduating in this
marketplace in the coming years. How could it be otherwise? We must also
respect the opportunities for senior engineers, minorities, women, and the
financially disadvantaged who would like to enter our profession.

Second -- the conditions under which new high tech workers are admitted and
allowed to remain in the United States affects the future of our profession,
as well as our national economic and social well-being. Because the H1-B is
a non-immigrant temporary visa, a policy based on the H1-B becomes an
endless series of quick-fixes to the permanent problem of renewing our
profession in the United States.

After all, the United States is a land of immigrants, not guest-workers.
Immigration has benefited us enormously throughout our history, but the
universal experience with guest worker programs is that they fail. In every
case, large numbers intend to stay. So why don't we fix what's broken? The
Ellis Island model for immigration worked well.

The IEEE-USA was organized to be the career services and public policy arm
for the 230,000 U.S. members of the IEEE. When the members, volunteers, and
IEEE-USA Board agree that a particular matter (whether it is pensions,
precollege education, or immigration policy) is worth it, on behalf of the
U.S. members, we make the effort. The H1-B is such an issue.

As engineers, we know the best solution is the one that solves all the
problems. What are the problems the H1-B visa is supposed to solve?
Employers want to hire skilled workers from the global marketplace. The
H1-B workers they hire overwhelmingly want permanent residency - the green
card -- and U.S. high tech workers want two things: (1) that they compete
equally with foreign-born workers, and (2) that they continually improve
their skills for a life-time career in their profession.

The IEEE-USA has simply put all of this together. "Green cards, not guest
workers" is an alternative that provides employers, H1-B workers and U.S.
workers alike with what we all want.

For information, go to:
http://www.ieeeusa.org/grassroots/immreform/index.html

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