Following the advancement of legislation to shore up U.S. global competitiveness, senators expressed optimism the bill could serve as a bipartisan vehicle for long-awaited changes to the legal immigration system.
The Senate voted Wednesday to move forward with resolving differences between its bill and the House-passed version. Both measures would provide funds to boost American manufacturing and scientific research to better compete with China and other global powers.
Chief among those differences are a slate of immigration provisions added by the House that would create a new visa category for entrepreneurs. They also would exempt foreign citizens with doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM fields, from annual green card limits.
