Rep. Lofgren Statement on Obama Entrepreneur Visa Announcement

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the ranking member on the House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, commented on President Obama's Startup America legislative agenda, particularly the proposed changes to U.S. immigration policy aimed at attracting highly-skilled, job-creating entrepreneurs in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

"As a representative from Silicon Valley, I'm pleased the President is embracing policies I have championed to keep our country innovative and competitive, spurring new businesses that create jobs in the decades to come," Rep. Zoe Lofgren said. "After all, household names like Intel, Google, Yahoo and eBay were all founded by innovative immigrants who came to Silicon Valley willing to take a risk and build their dreams, and in the process they grew our economy and created tens of thousands of jobs for their fellow Americans."

Just as in Rep. Lofgren's Immigration Driving Entrepreneurship in America (IDEA) Act of 2011, the policies announced by President Obama today will encourage masters and doctorate STEM field degree holders to establish new start-up businesses that create jobs for American workers. In addition to authoring the IDEA Act, Rep. Lofgren has held hearings and introduced legislation aimed specifically at fixing the broken immigration system:

Legislation:

• H.R. 6039 (110th Congress) – Bill to provide green cards to students who have master's or PhDs from US universities in STEM fields.
• H.R. 5921 (110th Congress) – "High Skilled Per Country Level Elimination Act," to shorten green card backlogs for certain high-skilled immigrants in the United States.
• H.R. 5882 (110th Congress) – To recapture employment-based immigrant visas lost to bureaucratic delays and to prevent losses of family- and employment-based immigrant visas in the future.
• H.R. 3119 (112th Congress) – "Protecting American Families and Businesses Act of 2011," to shorten green card backlogs for certain high-skilled immigrants in the US, and to make it easier for foreign STEM students to obtain green cards.
• H.R. 2161 (112th Congress) – Immigrants Driving Entrepreneurship in America (IDEA) Act of 2011.

Hearings:

• June 12, 2008 hearing on "Green Cards for Highly Skilled Workers"
• September 30, 2010 hearing on "The Role of Immigration in Strengthening America's Economy"