Rep. Liccardo's New Bipartisan Legislation Keeps Innovators in America

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, Representatives Sam Liccardo (CA-16), Jay Obernolte (CA-23), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08) introduced the bipartisan Keep Innovators in America Act (KIAA) to codify the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program and retain U.S.-trained talent.

For more than three decades, administrations from both parties have issued rulemaking to maintain the OPT program, an employment authorization for international students educated at American institutions. In the 2024–2025 academic year alone, international students contributed $42.9 billion to the U.S. economy. The OPT program not only helps the United States attract, educate and retain these students, but it ensures that small businesses, startups, and research institutions have the talent they need to grow and innovate. In November, the Trump administration signaled potential elimination of the OPT program, opening the door for U.S.-trained talent to take their skills to other nations.

“We have a choice: educate the best and brightest students in the U.S. to help America succeed, or send them home to China, India, and other rivals to launch companies to compete against us,” said Liccardo. “Only by cultivating the expertise grown here can we keep the U.S. competitive, so I’m proud to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to sustain the OPT program for years into the future.”

“Codifying the Optional Practical Training program provides needed clarity and accountability for a program that allows students to gain practical experience in their field of study. At a time of intensifying global competition, it is not in our national interest to educate the world’s most talented students in American institutions only to send them abroad to compete with us,” said Obernolte. “This legislation ensures that we can retain top talent in critical fields on a temporary basis while strengthening American innovation and maintaining strong oversight and respect for our immigration laws.”

Liccardo and Obernolte previously collaborated on a bipartisan letter responding to President Trump’s 2025 proclamation unilaterally increasing H-1B visa fees. The letter argued that the proposed $100,000 fee disproportionately harms small startups that depend on specialized expertise to survive and grow. America cannot win the 21st century by bleeding the next generation of entrepreneurs to our competitors.

Full bill text is available here. 

Endorsement list: Compete America Coalition, Technet, Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), FWD.us, AILA, U.S. for Success Coalition, Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, Council of Graduate Schools, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, AIRC: The Association of International Enrollment Management, AIFS: American Institute for Foreign Study; American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, Global Detroit, EnglishUSA, Studyportals, Alliance for International Exchange, TESOL International Association, Shorelight, LLC.

“The 50+ organizations represented in the U.S. for Success Coalition have a clear, on-the-ground understanding of the enormous value international students bring to Americans. Congress now has an opportunity to provide clarity and stability by codifying OPT and ensuring the United States remains the world’s leading destination for global talent,” said Jill Welch, Executive Director of the U.S. for Success Coalition. 

“Thanks to Representative Liccardo, Representative Obernolte, and Representative Khrisnamoothi for introducing the Keep Innovators in America Act. This is a smart, bipartisan step to strengthen U.S. innovation and competitiveness. For decades, the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program has helped attract and keep top global talent in America. Codifying OPT into law provides the long-term certainty that students, universities, and employers need, while ensuring the U.S. can retain some of the most highly skilled graduates that have been educated here,” said Linda Moore, President & CEO of TechNet.

“Ensuring that international students who study at U.S. universities are able to stay and work after they graduate is not just common sense, it is essential to our country’s long term economic strength and global competitiveness. Optional Practical Training is a vital part of that strategy, providing a bridge from classroom learning to the skilled workforce. We strongly support Congressman Liccardo’s bill to codify the program and provide certainty for students, universities, and employers and protect a proven legal immigration pathway that benefits all Americans,” said FWD.us President Todd Schulte. 

“International students are a cornerstone of America’s innovation pipeline and a powerful driver of local economies. They bring cutting-edge knowledge from U.S. classrooms into our workplaces, startups, hospitals, and research institutions. Programs like Optional Practical Training allow employers to retain talent educated in the United States at a time of persistent workforce shortages, while strengthening communities across the country. International students contribute more than $40 billion annually to the U.S. economy and support hundreds of thousands of American jobs. By coming together across party lines, lawmakers are recognizing a simple truth: welcoming global talent is a practical investment in American innovation, economic growth, and global competitiveness. We commend this bipartisan leadership and urge Congress to continue advancing policies that ensure the United States remains the world’s top destination for talent, ideas, and opportunity,” said Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

“Reps. Liccardo, Krishnamoorthi and Obernolte’s leadership in protecting OPT underscores the program’s importance as a critical part of the U.S. talent pipeline, allowing qualified international students at U.S. colleges and universities to gain temporary professional experience in their fields during or after their studies. OPT plays a vital role in strengthening the U.S. workforce, helping fill labor shortages in high-demand fields while supporting job creation for American workers. Experiential learning has long been a cornerstone of education in the United States, including post-graduation opportunities through OPT. More than 290,000 international students pursued OPT in academic year 2024/25, many in STEM fields, contributing their skills to employers and communities across the country. It is essential that we protect OPT to continue enhancing the educational experience of international students. This will in turn strengthen local economies, support employers, and contribute to the United States’ long-term global competitiveness,” stated Zuzana C. Wootson, Deputy Director of Federal Policy at the Presidents’ Alliance.

“American innovation and competitiveness hinge on building a top-tier domestic workforce with talent from across the globe. Congressmen Liccardo, Obernolte, and Krishnamoorthi’s Keep Innovators in America Act ensures that the best students continue to receive practical training and employment authorization to innovate in the U.S. — not abroad,” said ITI President and CEO Jason Oxman. 

“Compete America strongly supports this pragmatic, bipartisan effort led by Representative Liccardo (D-CA), Representative Obernolte (R-CA), and Representative Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) to provide long-term certainty for the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which has played a key role in sustaining America’s global technology leadership. For decades, OPT has helped ensure that the world’s best STEM students—educated at U.S. universities—can contribute to our economy, strengthen our workforce, and drive innovation here at home rather than abroad. At a time when the United States faces increasing global workforce competition in critical and emerging technology fields, maintaining and strengthening this pathway through statutory codification is an essential step toward keeping top talent in the United States and ensuring our economy, national security, and innovation ecosystem remain the strongest in the world,” said Scott Corley, Executive Director of Compete America.