House Judiciary chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, is set to unveil a bill that would re-assign green cards from the visa lottery program to foreign graduate students at American universities that earn degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, according to a report from CQ's David Harrison.
The bill has been a longtime priority for the technology industry, which claims there simply aren't enough qualified, homegrown workers to fill the available openings. The bill would take the 55,000 visas currently awarded through the diversity lottery program and reserve them for foreign graduates that earn and Master's or Ph.D. in STEM fields. The legislation has the support of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., but faces an uphill climb in the Senate after talks broke down last month between Smith and chamber Democrats on a potential compromise. Smith is still hoping to garner the support of some House Democrats, particularly those from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.