U.S. Congressional Delegation Travels to India; Promise the Moon

Mark Warner, Virginia’s junior senator, is a multimillionaire, a popular ex-governor and thought by many to be one of the Democratic Party’s fastest rising stars. Warner (NumbersUSA grade, F-) refers to himself as a “radical centrist.”

As evidence, Warner is Co-Chairman of the Senate India Caucus.

From January 7 to 14, Warner traveled to New Delhi to investigate what he referred to as “the disproportionate number” of H-1B visas denied to India as well as the increase in certain categories of H-1B visa fees. Warner was accompanied by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO; grade, F-) and Tom Udall (D-NM; Grade, F-) as well as Representatives Cedric Richmond and Joseph Crowley, the House India Caucus co-chair. [Disproportionate Number  of H-1B Visa Denials to Be Examined, Times of India, January 12, 2012]

Said Warner upon his return:

"On raising [the visa] fee, we heard some concerns. I understand the Indian   concerns. Sometime in the Congress we link things that may or may not be linked. But I think, there is still enormous appetite in India for visas even with a higher cost."

As for the claim that "the number of H-1B visa denied from India have been higher percentage than other countries,” Warner promised to look into it.

Concluded Warner as he argued for more H-1B visas:

“…remove those caps…” to begin “… providing additional opportunities for Indian H-1Bs…”

Along with Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan), Warner recently introduced the Start Up Act which proposes a complete overhaul of the visa system including lowering the dollar amount charged for each EB-5 visa, the so called entrepreneurial visa.

Among Warner’s other areas of interest that his bill covers are providing green cards to foreign nationals who graduate from an American university and want careers in the United States (and will therefore not return home).

Is it just me or do others agree that it’s unseemly for a United States Senator to be bowing and scraping to foreign nationals carping about visa fees? Anyone who thinks fees are excessive has an option: don’t pay them; stay home. Indians have little to complain about anyway since they receive as many H-1B visas as the rest of the world combined.

Nevertheless, Sens. Warner, Moran and their peers subjected Americans to more exceedingly tedious propaganda that the nation needs more foreign-born workers and that we should therefore raise or, better yet, eliminate visa caps despite relentlessly high U.S. unemployment.

Luckily for Virginia and Kansas their unemployment levels are lower than the national average, 6.2 and 6.5 percent respectively. Still, the two states combined have nearly three quarter of million people out of work. I’m sure none of them are impressed that their Senator is off in India on a good will mission to promote coming to America to work.