2 News Articles for SKIL
garg_gaurav said:
PLease post all the info you get on Skil BIll being passed in this thread, There is intense lobying for this bill to pass and very rare chances as calendar is full. But if this gets passed, it will altogether finish retrogression soon. Please share any info you have. Here are some promising testimonies from my area, Iselin, NJ.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=1801&wit_id=5709
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20060907/tc_cmp/192503648
www.shusterman.com
Chipmakers Push Tax, Immigration Reform to Help U.S. Companies
2006-09-19 15:17 (New York)
By Ron Day
Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. semiconductor makers, whose
share of global capacity to make cutting-edge chips is
shrinking, want universities to increase research and the
government to reform tax and immigration laws to help them.
More tax credits and faster issuance of ``green card'' work
permits to foreigners will help the U.S. become more competitive
in high-technology manufacturing, officials from the
Semiconductor Industry Association said in New York today.
U.S. production capacity of high-end chips, or those with
etched wiring widths of 120 nanometers, will drop to 11 percent
of global capacity this year from 35 percent in 2001, the
association said. Countries including Israel and China are
luring new chip factories with lower corporate taxes than those
in the U.S. and with tax holidays that last as long as five
years, association President George Scalise said.
``Something has to happen to make the investment climate
more attractive so more of that investment does come to the U.S.
rather than to country X, Y and Z,'' said Scalise, 72, who is
also chairman of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank. Scalise
said 11 percent of global high-end chip-making capacity isn't
enough to ensure the U.S. position as a technology leader.
``If we don't have the critical mass that's necessary to
move that back up to some higher level, it's going to be hard to
maintain the tech leadership we enjoy today,'' said Scalise, who
held a media briefing to explain the group's efforts to help
U.S. chipmakers, who employ about 265,000 workers.
Costliest Factories
The most expensive and sophisticated chip-making plants
build circuits with wires thinner than 120 nanometers, Scalise
said. Most of the world's plants make chips with wires wider
than that, Texas Instruments Inc. spokesman Dan Larson said.
A nanometer is a billionth of a meter and a wire 120
nanometers thick is thousands of times thinner than a human
hair. At Intel Corp., the world's biggest semiconductor maker,
most chips are made from wires that are 65 nanometers wide.
U.S.-based companies sold chips worth $110 billion, or 47
percent of the $227.5 billion in global semiconductor sales,
last year, Scalise said. His association is also pushing the
U.S. Congress to restore, widen and make permanent the 4 percent
research and development tax credit for U.S. companies.
The San Jose, California-based association repeated its
forecast for a 9.8 percent rise in global semiconductor sales
this year, to about $249.6 billion. Growth is being sparked by
demand for music players, digital televisions, mobile phones
that surf the web and electronic features in cars.
--With reporting by Jason Kelly in Atlanta. Editor: Bunker.
Story illustration: See {SOX <Index> MRR <GO>} for the
performance of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange's
Semiconductor Index. For a chart of DRAM prices on the
DRAMeXchange, see {DRMX <GO>}. For the Web site of the
Semiconductor Industry Association, see
http://sia-online.org.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ron Day in New York at (1) (212) 617-8990 or
rday1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Emma Moody at (1) (212) 617-3504 or
emoody@bloomberg.net.
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House GOP Plans To Unveil New Border Security Bill
2006-09-15 11:57 (New York)
On September 12, 2006, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) announced plans for a
new legislative proposal aimed at increasing border security. Reiterating the
need to "get the border fixed first," the Speaker did not rule out the
possibility of a guest worker program this year, but with less than three weeks
remaining in this legislative session, the announcement has dashed any
lingering hope for the House and Senate to reach an agreement on comprehensive
immigration reform.
The Speaker made his statement at a forum chaired by Republican Policy Committee
Chairman Adam Putnam (R-FL). At this forum, various committee and subcommittee
chairmen who took part in the 22 hearings held across the country this summer
gave reports on the findings from those hearings. Furthermore, the Speaker
said that the new legislation would be based on evidence gathered at these
hearings and that pieces of the new legislation may move through the process as
stand-alone bills or as part of the Defense Appropriations Act for 2007. The
Senate version of the Defense Appropriations Act already includes an amendment
to add $1.829 billion for the construction of 370 miles of triple-layered
fencing, and 500 miles of vehicle barriers along the southwest border.
Last December, the House passed its enforcement-only immigration reform bill.
In May of this year, the Senate responded by passing a comprehensive reform
bill that includes legalization for undocumented workers, visas for guest
workers, and an overhaul of the program for admitting highly educated workers
in addition to enforcement provisions. Proponents of comprehensive reform had
hoped that the House and Senate would meet in a conference to reconcile the two
bills and reach a consensus that proponents on all sides could support.
However, before committing to a conference, the House leadership organized
field hearings across the country and in Washington to further examine guest
worker and border security issues. At this time, though there have been
informal negotiations between the two chambers, most observers do not think a
compromise is possible before Congress recesses to prepare for the election.
What is unclear is how Congress might address legislation providing visa backlog
relief for highly educated workers. In May, Senate Immigration Subcommittee
Chairman John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and
Leadership Act of 2006 (SKIL Act). In June, Representative John Shadegg (R-AZ)
introduced an identical companion bill in the House of Representatives. If
enacted, the SKIL Act would increase temporary (H-1B) and permanent
employment-based visa quotas and exempt certain highly educated professionals
from the quotas. The legislation would also streamline the process for
international students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and
math to become permanent residents of the U.S. The SKIL Act was incorporated
into the Senate's comprehensive bill, which is no longer a viable legislative
vehicle. If the SKIL Act were to be enacted this year, it would have to be
attached to a larger bill, such as an appropriations bill, that Congress must
pass this year, either before or after the election.
For more information please click {FRGL_<GO>}
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