WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today asked Fannie Mae and the National Institutes of Health to provide details regarding their use of H-1B visas when hiring new employees.

"While the H-1B program has served a valuable purpose in allowing companies to bring in temporary workers for high skilled jobs, Congress has a responsibility to make sure that Americans are not overlooked in the process," Grassley said. "I'm asking questions today to find out how many taxpayer dollars are being used to recruit foreign workers and how invested our government backed entities are in this visa program."

Fannie Mae and the National Institutes of Health are the only federal government or government chartered entities on the list of the top 200 companies that use the most H-1B visas.

Last March, Grassley and Senator Dick Durbin began an extensive look at waste, fraud and abuse in the H-1B and L visa programs. The Senators have raised issues with the Citizenship and Immigration Service as well as the Department of Labor.  They have also asked questions of companies that use H-1B visas. Grassley also raised issues with attorneys who had advised their clients on how to get around the permanent employment regulations.

Letter to Mr. Mudd at Fannie Mae

Letter to Dr. Zerhouni at NIH