CompTIA Applauds Bipartisan Congressional Proposals for Immigration Reform

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Jan 29, 2013, 04:36 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following statement regarding the recent immigration reform proposals by two bipartisan groups of senators yesterday* and today** can be attributed to CompTIA President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Thibodeaux.

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"We applaud the principles on comprehensive immigration reform that were released by Senators Schumer, McCain, Durbin, Graham, Menendez, Rubio, Bennet and Flake as a first important step toward a bipartisan approach to immigration. Additionally, we were pleased to see the introduction of the Immigration Innovation Act of 2013 (referred to as the I-Squared Act of 2013), which contains essential components for the IT industry and the growth of the U.S. economy. We urge Capitol Hill leaders to strongly consider these proposals and enact wide-ranging reforms for immigration that provide necessary skills-gap relief to the high-tech sector while investing in our own domestic pipeline.

"For instance, the best and brightest students from across the world come to America to be educated in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, yet we don't offer them an opportunity to stay once they graduate. We want these educated students to be able to accept job offers in the U.S. and to have a level of certainty that they will be welcome to stay so that they can invest themselves in the U.S. We need their talent to help build up U.S. companies and to start new companies so that they can further improve America's technological progress.

"We stand ready to work with members of Congress to keep high-skilled, foreign-born talent in the U.S. to help drive innovation, build our local economies and move forward in this 21st century. We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to get that done," said Thibodeaux.

*The Comprehensive Immigration Reform was proposed by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).

**The Immigration Innovation (I2) Act of 2013 was proposed by Senators Christopher Coons (D-Del.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

About CompTIA

CompTIA is the voice of the world's information technology (IT) industry. Its members are the companies at the forefront of innovation; and the professionals responsible for maximizing the benefits organizations receive from their investments in technology. CompTIA is dedicated to advancing industry growth through its educational programs, market research, networking events, professional certifications, and public policy advocacy. For more information, visit www.comptia.org, http://www.facebook.com/CompTIA and http://twitter.com/comptia.

SOURCE CompTIA