> > "...we issue H(1)(b) visas every year to allow scientists and engineers from other countries to emigrate into this country to help us out. [...] We are importing scientists and engineers, asking them to emigrate to this country for this purpose. [...]
> >
>
> I obviously didn't read this the same way you did. To me, this is just pointing out that our higher education system is great, good enough to attract people from all over the world to come here to study, but our primary and secondary education systems are crap,
>

You've read it exactly the way that Rep. Vern Ehlers intended you to hear it. I just wanted to point out that while there may well be a crisis in U.S. primary and secondary education (I wouldn't know), the immigrant analogies that he used have the misfortune of sounding elitist to international observers like myself.


> because our OWN students can't compete with foriegn nationals at this level in their own country. Unless there's more to this quote that you didn't post that really drove the xenophobia issue home, I'd be more inclined to think the speaker was merely pointing out the fact that the US primary and secondary education systems need to be vastly improved.
>
> -- Dave

How would you go about doing that effectively? Throwing money at the problem isn't the solution, but if there is a problem, neither is letting the status quo continue as it has been going with Education.