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VOTE ON SENATE H-1B BILL STILL ON HOLD
This week Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) said that if Senate Democrats do not agree to plans to limit the number of amendments that can be proposed to H-1B legislation pending before the Senate, the bill might not be brought before the entire Senate. 
The bill, S. 2045, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in March, but has not yet been presented for a full Senate vote.  Deciding the procedures by which the bill will be voted on has been holding up further action on the bill.  The current Republican proposal on procedures is more limited than one suggested a few weeks ago, which would have allowed up to five amendments from both Republicans and Democrats. 
Sen. Lott gave as the reason for the need for limited debate on the bill the lack of time remaining in the legislative session and the need to pass other legislation, such as appropriations bills.  Democrats have generally maintained that while they favor changes to the H-1B program, they do not approve of limiting the number of amendments that can be offered.  Meanwhile, leaders in the high tech industry are going impatient with the lack of progress.  Last Tuesday a group of high tech organization sent a letter to Sen. Lott urging him to allow the bill to come to a vote this month.   
In other H-1B news, the American Hospital Association is reportedly seeking to add a provision to the H-1B bill that would eliminate the bachelor's degree requirement for nurses in order to alleviate the national shortage of RNs. The AHA has sent a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate immigration committees urging the broadening of the scope of the H-1B bills to address the nurse shortage.
In the letter, Rick Pollack, the AHA's executive vice president for advocacy and public policy states:
"It is critical that hospitals have available a ready supply of qualified health care professionals, especially when the labor market in this nation is so tight... [Providers] need a clear and rapid process to ensure their ability to provide quality health care to the public."