Oracle goes to Washington

Oracle has hired law firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers to lobby the federal government on a number of pressing issues, including immigration, intellectual property rights, trade and foreign investments, according to an eweek report. Former national security adviser and deputy assistant to President Bush, Robert Blackwell, is one of the lobbyists registered to work on behalf of Oracle. Blackwell also served as an ambassador to India. That background could come in very handy if Oracle lobbies for more H-1B Visa slots, the article notes. Oracle, along with Microsoft and IBM, is among the top three technology companies to hire H-1B employees in the United States. In 2006, Oracle brought in 1,022 workers from the H-1B pool, Microsoft brought in 3,117 visa holders and IBM 1,130 from the H-1B pool last year.

For more:
- read the full story in eweek's article