Unfortunately, intelligent debate was as rare as reliable data that should support any legislation. The studies Congress requested haven't yet been published, and other well-publicized studies aren't scientific enough to be used as the basis for public policy.

Two years ago, when the H-1B limit went from 65,000 to 115,000, Congress charged the National Academy of Sciences with quantifying the alleged job shortage. When they voted on Oct. 3, it was set for release within days. Only a couple of senators bothered to ask for information, according to a spokesman for the work force committee. Publication has since slipped to later this month.

There was no compelling reason that congressmen couldn't wait to get the NAS report they requested and paid for. Two days before the vote, the start of the U.S. fiscal year gave corporations a new batch of 115,000 temporary worker visas. The only solid reason Congress had to get the bill done before the election seems to be to appease cash-rich technology CEOs, whose donations will be far more important during October than later when more intelligent debate could take place.

Just how useless was the data congressmen did use to understand what some corporate spokesmen called "a critical vote for the U.S. economy?" Senator Spencer Abraham said that in addition to the jobs that are unfilled today, 200,000 new jobs will be created in each of the next three years. If that's true, he pushed a bill that gives 195,000 of 200,000 new jobs to foreign workers. Is it any surprise that Abraham's support of the H-1B bill has made him unpopular with many Michigan voters, who know quite a bit about losing jobs to foreign competition. Some observers might point to a study done by the Information Technology Association of America, which got much attention from both Congress and the media with its prediction that there will be more than 800,000 unfilled IT jobs this year. That study was developed by a trade association that is one of the strongest proponents of the H-1B program and funded by major corporations that are users of H-1B workers. That data is about as reliable as Philip Morris studies on tobacco.

There's already criticism of the NAS study by other people who apparently don't need to know facts before they make their decision. But that didn't come from Congress, which seems to have forgotten that they asked people to spend two years-and our tax dollars-to gather important data.