WASHINGTON (TIP): CEOs representing top American technology companies including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco have hailed the passage of the comprehensive immigration reform bill by US Senate, arguing that this would give a big boost to the economic growth and attract high skilled workers. “In passing this legislation on a strong bipartisan basis, the Senate broke the logjam on immigration and high-skilled worker reforms,” said John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco and co-chair of TechNet, the coalition of CEOs of US tech companies.

“America’s economic success stems from our culture of innovation and the constant infusion of new ideas from a skilled and talented workforce. Now – as the House of Representatives takes up the issue – Cisco will continue to work with our legislative leaders to ensure that the reforms help attract the best, the brightest and the most ambitious minds from around the world to our shores,” he said. Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft said by passing the comprehensive immigration reform, US Senate took a significant step toward reforming the nation’s outdated immigration policies. “If enacted, these changes will strengthen our economic security, foster innovation and enable continued job growth in the US.

Equally important, the legislation makes critical investments in our workforce by strengthening STEM education in the United States, including instruction focused on computer science,” Ballmer said. “Microsoft applauds the Senate’s bipartisan collaboration and leadership in addressing this issue. As the House of Representatives moves forward, we will continue working on a bipartisan basis to enact much-needed reforms to immigration and education policies that will promote American competitiveness and opportunity,” the Microsoft CEO said. But according to USIBC the bill will really affect developing nations like India. “The Bill unfairly targets American companies trying to remain globally competitive by reducing their ability to contract with global IT service providers and restricting their access to the international expertise they need,” USIBC president Ron Somers said.

“Comprehensive changes to our outdated immigration system are important for the US economy to remain the global leader in innovation,” said Safra Catz, co-president & CFO, Oracle and a member of TechNet’s executive council. “With approval of this bill, the Senate is sending a powerful signal that America is open for business, strengthening our economy and providing new opportunities for our workers,” he said. “The passage of this monumental, bipartisan legislation is a terrific victory for our country,” said John Doerr, general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and co-chair of TechNet. “America’s economic success has always been based upon its ability to attract the best talent, no matter where they were born. We applaud the broad, bipartisan support for this measure in the Senate,” Doerr said. (Source: SiliconIndia News)