Speech #1020234594

Mr. President. immigration has been an important force over the years in our Nations development. As is so often said. the United States is a nation of immigrants. and our people have benefitted in many ways from immigrants contributions in many diverse areas. However. immigration can also cause problems. and our current immigration policies may be doing so in certain key areas. In particular. our policies may be inappropriately undercutting many U.S. citizens employment and economic opportunities. Congress and other policymakers should give much greater scrutiny to our existing immigration policies in order to determine what changes may be needed. When Congress reconvenes early next year. I hope that there will be hearings to explore issues such as whether policy changes are needed to protect U.S. citizens jobs and economic opportunities. In the interim. I would urge my colleagues and other policymakers to spend some time on their own to learn more about the immigrationrelated public policy issues that already are being raised in the press and in various studies and reports. In that regard. Mr. President. let me call my colleagues attention to several new interesting and enlightening documents that provides helpful background information on these matters. First. there is a new book entitled. "Immigration 2000: The Century of the New American Sweatshop." just published by the Federation of American Immigration Reform [FAIR]. a nonprofit public interest organization devoted to reforming outdated immigration policies. This book includes 25 studies and articles by some of the countrys leading economists and immigration scholars on the effects of immigration on the American labor force and economy. Many of these articles suggest that current immigration policies are contributing to a decline in the U.S. economic competitiveness and undercutting the wages. job opportunities and working conditions of our countrys own disadvantaged citizens. This new book addresses many key questions on the social and economic effects of immigration to the United States. including: Does immigration perpetuate the underclass and impede economic improvement for AfricanAmerican and Hispanic citizens? Is the purpose of immigration law to protect American workers? Do immigrants displace American workers? Does immigration depress American workers wages? What happened to the labor shortage? Second. another new FAIR report. "Immigration Outpaces a Sluggish American Economy: A New American Dilemma." examines how high levels of immigrant laborers are impacting our already troubled labor market. This report notes. for example. that despite increasing U.S. unemployment and the loss of good Jobs. the Immigration Service continues to issue work authorizations faster than Jobs are created. I find the fact to be troubling. and it reinforces my belief that it is time for Congress. the administration. and other concerned parties to focus on issues such as this to determine if changes in our current immigration policies would be in our national interest. Mr. President. in order to facilitate my colleagues access to this information. I ask that a copy of the report entitled. "Immigration Outpaces a Slugglsh American Economy: A New American Dilemma." be printed in todays The report follows: