Kennedy, Kerry withdraw sponsorship of H-1B amendment

A little noticed amendment sponsored by Senate Democrats Kennedy and Kerry to the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 that would have raised the quota for H-1B visas was tabled earlier this week after initial approval by a voice vote in the Senate. Amendment 180 if it remained in the Fair Minimum Wage Act which is expected to pass by a large margin, was essentially a version of the SKIL Bill. It would have at least do

A little noticed amendment sponsored by Senate Democrats Kennedy and Kerry to the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 that would have raised the quota for H-1B visas was tabled earlier this week after initial approval by a voice vote in the Senate.

Amendment 180 if it remained in the Fair Minimum Wage Act which is expected to pass by a large margin, was essentially a version of the SKIL Bill.

It would have at least doubled the number of H-1B visas along with a provision to increase that number by 20 percent in each succeeding year if the visa quota was filled the previous year.

Another part of the amendment called for a new visa, H-5, for unskilled workers.