No pressure, members of Congress. Welcome back. As you can see, the agenda’s got some doozies in it for you to deal with. Have at it.
As Mother Nature none-too-gently reminds us–with a ferocious alphabet soup of wind and water monsters to the east and a smoldering blazing quiltwork of wildfires up and down the Western United States–your agenda is just that, an agenda.
And priorities are what they are. The work to be done, to re-plan, to rebuild, to re-seed growth, and to heal in those areas now being ravaged by a series of brutal super storms and forest fires is, in no uncertain terms, your most urgent agenda. So, too, is the ongoing work of addressing how policy and resource allocation can improve the way the nation deals with its most wicked chronic challenges: economic deserts, stalled social mobility, and a flickering, flagging American Dream for many.
Let’s hope these reminders–as horrific as they are for those caught in their direct force-fields–help peel away some of the blinders of partisanship, and level-set your intent and your actions on what it is that can and must be done now.
One of the more impactful resolves you can set for yourselves as the fresh Fall session gets underway is Immigration Reform.
Here’s a simple, clear, way to state a set of benefits and balance, as expressed by National Association of Home Builders chairman Granger MacDonald, who hails from the West Texas town of Kerrville, where he develops and builds homes.
“President Trump’s call to Congress to find a permanent legislative solution to protect the ‘Dreamers’ underscores the urgent need for lawmakers to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Given the chronic shortage of residential construction workers, there has never been a more critical time for Congress to enact effective reforms that would help revitalize the economy and boost the housing sector.
“NAHB believes that any comprehensive reform should protect our nation’s borders; include a new, market-based visa program that would fill labor gaps to ensure that the nation has a workforce that is sufficient to meet its housing construction and restoration needs; and provide a workable employment verification system. A successful guest worker program will help alleviate the current labor shortage in the residential construction sector, quicken the rebuilding efforts in Texas and support the overall economic growth of this nation.”
The economics, the culture, the society, and the financial viability of many of the private enterprise organizations whose efforts and initiatives will be so vital in helping to repair the fabric of those many communities who have been and are about to be stressed and tested and torn by storm and fire’s fury each rely now on how you respond to this call for action.
What better way to show Americans the commitment you profess to have in their interests than to act now on immigration reform?
This recent statement from the Bipartisan Policy Center Immigration Task Force, which includes the following members, adds urgency to the message:
“The young people who will be affected by today’s decision deserve better than an arbitrary process. To that end, we still believe there is room for consensus on immigration policy, and even room for a legislative solution on DACA. A pairing of policy ideas that strengthen enforcement with a more permanent status for Dreamers could gain broad support, and has the added benefit of being a sound first step.
“Ultimately, updating our immigration system is going to require legislative action, whether through one comprehensive bill or through a number of incremental changes. The system is too outdated, too broken, and too unresponsive to modern realities to serve anyone’s best interests. Congress has the power to craft a permanent solution. It’s time to act on that power.”
Immigration Task Force Members:
- Howard Berman, former California congressman
- Ed Brady, president, Brady Homes
- Al Cardenas, senior partner, Squire Patton Boggs
- David Dreier, former California congressman
- Eliseo Medina, former international secretary-treasurer, Service Employees International Union
- John Rowe, chairman emeritus, Exelon Corporation
- John Shadegg, former Arizona congressman
- Hilda Solis, former secretary of Labor
