Labor and Pensions CommitteeSenator ENZI. Senator KENNEDY now chairs that committee. When Senator ENZI chaired it. we had a hearing in September of 2006 with economists and experts to discuss the impact on working Americans. middleclass workers. the wages they receive as impacted by immigration. I dont think there was a singre dissent in that committeeeveryone agreed that large influxes of low skilled immigrant labor bring down the wages of the American workers that compete with them. And the Judiciary Committee last year also had one hearing on the matter in April of 2006. Witnesses at that hearing also agreed unanimously that the wages of working class Americans are adversely impacted by large flows of immigrants Into our country. How could it be otherwise? That is a basic economic principlewhen supply goes up. the price goes down. When demand goes up and supply remains the same. the price goes up. When I raised this point on the floor. Senator KENNEDY. daring the immigration reform debate last year. responded to me. His solution was that we should raise the minimum wage. I responded that it is not my goal to have American citizens making $7 an hour. my goal is to create a free market economy where their labor is worth $12. $15. $18. or $25 an hour.
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