"I have concluded that the H-1B program, as currently designed and administered, does more harm than good," testified Ronil Hira, associate professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology. "The principal goal of the H-1B visa program is to bring in foreign workers who complement the U.S. workforce. Instead, loopholes in the program have made it too easy to bring in cheaper foreign workers, with ordinary skills, who directly substitute for, rather than complement, workers already in America. They are clearly displacing and denying opportunities to U.S. workers."

Hira says that the flaws of the current H-1B visa program include: Employers are not required to show that qualified American workers are unavailable; wage requirements are too low "and as a result the program is extensively used for wage arbitrage"; work permits are held by the employer giving enormous power over the worker to the employer; and the visa period -- three years with a three-year extension -- is too long.

To be sure, a subcommittee meeting does not an H-1B visa reform make. However, those leading it do appear to recognize that changes need to be made before the economy heats up again. In a statement today, Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said that in 2009, only 35% of all initial H-1B approvals went to workers in computer-related fields. "Foreign workers are receiving H-1B visas to work as fashion models, dancers, and as chefs, photographers, and social workers. There is nothing wrong with those occupations, but I'm not sure that foreign fashion models and pastry chefs are as crucial to our success in the global economy as are computer scientists."

Because of this, the 65,000 base annual quota of H-1B visas has been under increasing demand that will escalate when the economy improves. Smith concluded: "If Congress doesn't act to increase the H-1B cap, then we may need to examine what sort of workers qualify for H-1B visas."