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1. Milwaukee slips in high-tech rankings:

http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/06/23/daily10.html?t=printable

2. The highly skilled labor problem has reached a crisis level for the high tech industry

http://www.itic.org/archives/articles/2007/release062807.php

3. Microsoft opens facility in Canada because of poor access to foreign workers

4. America’s New Deficit: Shortage of Information Technology Workers

5. Critical shortage of high-tech workers threatens businesses nationwide

http://www.allbusiness.com/labor-employment/human-resources-personnel-management/6710407-1.html

6. Need to “recruit and develop high-wage earners…” Competitive Wisconsin, Inc.

http://www.competitivewi.com/PressReleases/2007/111507release.html

7. Page 26, Wisconsin Technology Council:

Wisconsin ranks a disappointing 27th in industry R&D expenditures.

8. "There is a very serious shortage of qualified tech workers. Because of that, companies have to recruit wherever they can,"

http://www.coxwashington.com/hp/content/reporters/stories/2007/01/21/BC_H_1B_VISAS_ADV21_COX.html

9. GE Medical high-tech jobs “a magnet that draws thousands of well-educated and highly skilled workers to southeastern Wisconsin”

10. Wisconsin is “poised to capitalize on the emerging high tech, bio-tech, and business services

clusters to garner more high paying jobs for the state.” 

Page 9, http://www.competitivewi.com/Mandate/CWIMandate111507.pdf

11. "We've got a lot of companies who want to create a lot of new jobs and keep a lot of good people in the country," says Ralph Hellmann, a senior vice president of the Information Technology Industry Council.   http://www.usatoday.com/money/2007-07-01-Immigration_N.htm

Sensenbrenner's Record

12. 2005: Voted in favor of amendment to prohibit foreign-worker importation provisions in Free Trade Agreements Rep. Sensenbrenner voted in favor of the Tancredo Amendment to H.R. 2862 to prevent the U.S. Trade Representative from including immigration provisions in Free Trade Agreements. The Tancredo Amendment failed by a vote of 106 to 322.

13. 1994: Cosponsored legislation to reduce worker importation Rep. Sensenbrenner cosponsored H.R. 4934, a bill that would have eliminated unskilled worker visa categories and reduced skilled worker visas to 25,000 annually.

14. 1999: Co-sponsored H.R.41, legislation to reduce worker importation. H.R.41 (the Stump bill) called for deep reductions in all categories of immigration. This includes a reduction in the category of skilled workers to 5,000 per year from its current ceiling of 120,060 per year. H.R.41 would have reduced immigration by almost 5.5 million over a ten-year period.

15. 1993-94: Co-sponsored reduction in worker importation. Rep. Sensenbrenner co-sponsored H.R.3862. This legislation would have cut legal immigration levels to below 300,000 a year from their current level of about one million. It would have reduced the annual number of visas available for foreign workers to 5,000 from 140,000, in order to protect American workers and their wages. Overall, the bill would have reduced legal immigration by almost 5.3 million over a 10-year period. H.R.3862 was not brought up for a vote.

16. 1997-98: Co-sponsored H.R.347, legislation to reduce worker importation. H.R.347 would have reduced the ceiling for skilled workers to 5,000 per year from its current ceiling of 120,060 per year, and it would have eliminated the category for unskilled workers. Overall, it would have reduced legal immigration by 5.3 million over a ten-year period.

17. 1995-96: Co-sponsored legislation to reduce worker importation. Rep. Sensenbrenner co-sponsored H.R.373. This bill would have reduced the number of visas available to foreign workers to 5,000 a year from 140,000, in order to protect American workers and their wages. Overall, the bill would have reduced legal immigration by 5.3 million over a 10-year period. H.R.373 was not brought to a vote.