Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), author of Startup Act 3.0, plans to offer an amendment to the Gang of Eight immigration bill during floor debate that will allow the United States to win the global battle for talent. Sen. Moran has been speaking with entrepreneurs, investors and startup policy experts to develop the amendment. He made the announcement during a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday night.

"In my view, we have an opportunity to create jobs for Americans by making certain highly-skilled and entrepreneurial immigrants are able to start new businesses and contribute to the growth of American companies,” Sen. Moran said. “If we miss this opportunity, we risk losing the next generation of great entrepreneurs and the jobs they will create. I will offer an amendment to the immigration bill to accomplish these goals and hope my colleagues will join me in supporting changes to the legislation that will result in the creation of new jobs for Americans."

The immigration bill reported by the Judiciary Committee creates new visas for immigrant entrepreneurs and awards points for the merit-based visa for successful entrepreneurship. Yet, Sen. Moran believes the bill could be improved to reflect more accurately how new businesses grow and hire workers. With the right changes to the bill, an entrepreneur’s visa has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of needed jobs for Americans. If we fail to improve our immigration system – one that currently tells these entrepreneurs and highly-skilled individuals “we don’t want you” – immigrant entrepreneurs will take their intellect and skills to another country and create jobs and economic opportunity there.

"Some of my colleagues may think I’m exaggerating what’s at stake, but this week, Canada’s immigration minister was in Silicon Valley recruiting entrepreneurs and promoting Canada’s new startup visa,” Sen. Moran continued. “His message was simple: the U.S. immigration system is broken, so bring your startup to Canada where you’ll get permanent residency and the opportunity to build your business. Canada even put up a billboard along Highway 101 between Silicon Valley and San Francisco, enticing entrepreneurs to ‘pivot to Canada.’ For the sake of our country and the millions of Americans looking for work, we cannot afford to lose these talented entrepreneurs."

Click here to learn more about Canada’s efforts to lure entrepreneurs in America to “pivot to Canada."

Click here to watch Sen. Moran’s entire floor speech on his upcoming amendment to the immigration bill.