[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        IN PRAISE OF IMMIGRANT CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN SOCIETY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and praise the 
immigrant contribution to the United States. To say that immigration is 
a driving force in the American economy is to make an understatement. 
According to the 2005 Economic Report of the President immigration is 
shown as being a key to the growth of the labor force and has cemented 
the traditional belief that immigrants provide a positive net fiscal 
benefit to the American economy. Current governmental policies toward 
immigration, however, don't reflect the Report's findings.
  Facts now point to the fact that today, 23 percent of the population 
is either foreign-born or children of someone who is. According to the 
most recent census, over 34 million people living in the U.S. were born 
outside of the U.S. with most of those coming from Latin America, about 
25 percent hailing from Asia, nearly 15 percent from Europe and 8 
percent coming from elsewhere including primarily Africa. Another 30 
million are ``second generation'' Americans with one or both parents 
having been born elsewhere.
  Immigrants play a vital role in American society. They are found in 
diverse occupations ranging from construction work and cooks to 
computer programmers and medical doctors. Their impact on American 
society can be seen in everything from musical icons such as Jennifer 
Lopez to our affinity for exotic cuisine.
  It is the contributions of this wide and varying group that give 
America its diversity. Immigrants are our next-door neighbors, friends 
and colleagues. They are hardworking and diligent members of our 
society, who live, work, and pay U.S. taxes. In New York State alone, 
undocumented workers pay more than $1 billion in taxes a year.
  Although it is true that we have unemployment among American 
citizens, we also have labor shortages, for example agricultural 
workers. Immigrants generally fill those jobs, which American citizens 
simply do not want to take.
  America's continued economic growth requires a steady flow of 
immigration. It almost always has and will in the future, perhaps more 
than at any time in the past. Therefore, rather than placing up 
barriers we should embrace and celebrate the contributions of 
immigrants to our society.

  I introduce in the Record an article from July 19, NYCarib reporting 
on the economic benefits of immigrant labor.

Immigrants and Melting Pot Economics--The Flow of Foreigners Into U.S. 
                   Boost But Don't Imperil the Nation

                             (By Tony Best)

       Call it a lesson in ``the melting pot economics 101,'' 
     facts and figures that underscore an important reality of 
     American society: immigration is a key element in the 
     rejuvenation and the prosperity of the country.
       Just as important, it's an essential cog in the economic 
     wheel.
       The latest data published by the U.S. Census Bureau not 
     only showed that the United States is in the throes of what 
     could be best described as a significant transformation of 
     its demographic profile but that many of the claims the 
     nativists are erroneous and that if their goals became 
     nation's policy, they would be imperiling America's economic 
     vitality.
       ``For those of us who believe that the melting pot is a 
     vital and unique feature of American society, this finding 
     that the new immigrants are integrating into our modern 
     economy is highly re-assuring,'' stated Stephen Moore, a 
     member of the Wall Street Journal's editorial board.
       ``Even more encouraging is the knowledge that a generous 
     immigration policy can co-exist with high rates of economic 
     growth and low unemployment,'' he added in an OpEd commentary 
     in the major business daily paper.'' The nativists have 
     gotten this story wrong for at least the past 20 years; 
     perhaps it would be wise to stop listening to them.''
       We couldn't agree.
       But what do the Census figures and other data show us that 
     we may not have known before?
       Here are some of the numbers that support the above 
     contention:
       Between 1980 and 2002, about 20 million immigrants entered 
     the United States, most of them coming from the Caribbean, 
     Asia and Central America.
       The foreign-born now account for about 12 percent of the 
     country's population, up from 6.2 per cent in 1980.
       Housing and financial assets have grown four-fold in the 
     past two decades, a time of great expansion of wealth and 
     skyrocketing immigration.
       As more and more people arrived, the unemployment rate 
     declined between 1980-82. Joblessness among Blacks dropped by 
     six per cent and Hispanics almost four per cent in the last 
     20 years.
       The U.S. has been a leader in the industrialized world when 
     it came to immigration, integrating twice the number of 
     immigrants than other wealthy nations.
       Median real family income rose about a fifth, going to 
     $52,000 today. People at the bottom of the economic ladder 
     have seen their median income jump as well between 1980-2000.
       Immigrants in the U.S. for less than three years have a 
     jobless rate of just eight percent but that rate fall to 6.7 
     percent after living here for a decade and 6 percent after 20 
     years.
        The foreign born who recently landed on U.S. shores have a 
     median family income of slightly less than $32,000 while 
     those persons who arrived in the 1990's have incomes that 
     surpass $38,000. If you had arrived in the early 1980's then 
     chances are the income is in the vicinity of $38,395.
       According to Dr. Richard Vedde, a labor economist at Ohio 
     University, the states with the highest levels of immigration 
     had the lowest levels of unemployment.
       What then do we learn from the data?
       The lessons are obvious.
       While it is true that immigrants go up against American 
     workers for their jobs in certain industries, such as driving 
     taxis, working in textile mills and serving as field hands in 
     the agricultural sector, ``there is no evidence,'' said 
     Moore, that ``on a macro-level,'' that immigrants suppress 
     wages because native born Americans have left too many of 
     those jobs for better paying tasks any how.
       The numbers also allay the fears of Blacks and Hispanics 
     that immigrants take away their jobs. For as the foreign born 
     population expanded, the nation's unemployment rate fell from 
     7.3 percent to 5.1 percent over 20 years. Black unemployment 
     also slumped as the immigrant numbers expanded.

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