Bill Would Keep Bailout Recipients from Hiring H-1B Workers
Financial services firms that receive federal bailout money will be prohibited from hiring H-1B workers if legislation introduced last night in the U.S. Senate wins adoption.
The bill would bar any recipient of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), the program being used by the government to purchase some $700 billion of bad mortgage assets, from hiring anyone on an H-1B visa. U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced the proposal as an amendment to the massive, $800 billion-plus federal stimulus bill, which is separate from the previously approved bank rescue funds.
"I firmly believe that companies going through layoffs that employ H-1B visas (holding workers) have a moral obligation to protect American workers by putting them first during these difficult times," said Sanders, according to an unofficial transcript of his remarks on the Senate floor.
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