A pro-outsourcing lobbying group has come together to counter the flood of anti-BPO testimony before the House International Relations Committee.

The group, comprising the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Council on International Personnel told the HIRC, headed by Congressman Henry Hyde (Illinois-Republican) that tampering with the L1 visa program could be counter-productive to US interests.

In recent hearings before the HIRC, witnesses had alleged that Indian infotech companies were operating like body shops, and using this visa category to displace American workers with lower paid Indian workers.

                                    Outsourcing and India: The Complete Coverage

The group told the HIRC it shared these concerns, but pointed out that to call for a ban on the L1 visa, which was created in 1970 to enable US companies with international operations to transfer senior executives and employees with specialized knowledge, would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

'Efforts to superimpose quotas, minimum wages and other restrictions on the L1 visa misunderstand the fundamental nature of the visa and the role it plays in international companies and in our economy,' representatives of the coalition told the Hyde-led committee.

'Any changes could inadvertently hurt this country's ability to attract foreign direct investment and the jobs that go with investment," coalition spokesman Randel K Johnson, vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits of the USCC which represents over three million businesses, told the committee.

'Any limitations on this visa category could severely harm the ability of US companies to operate and expand in the domestic and international markets,' Johnson warned.

Adding its weight to the coalition's arguments, American Business for Legal Immigration, a coalition of associations and companies that backs legal, employment-driven immigration, asked the committee not to rush into any review of immigration policies that could hinder the ability of American companies to compete in the global economy.

ABLI chair and vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers' Human Resources Policy Sandy Boyd said, 'The expertise shared and experiences gained (through the L1 visa program) are integral to developing talent, growing markets and generally enhancing the international competitiveness of the US companies, that ultimately create jobs for Americans.'