Bill Gates personally lobbied Congress to raise or eliminate the cap on H-1B skilled-worker visas, telling lawmakers in 2007 and 2008 that a shortage of visas left high-tech jobs unfilled and pushed work overseas, and arguing the limits bore 'no relation' to the economy's need for talent. Critics — including some senators and labor economists — countered that expanding the program would suppress wages for American technology workers and let companies substitute lower-paid foreign labor, and they pressed for stronger worker protections. The clash made Gates a leading corporate voice in a long-running and contentious debate over skilled immigration and its effect on U.S. wages.