Letter on S. 1348 and Immigration Reform

June 4, 2007

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE:

As trade associations representing the full spectrum of the American economy, we applaud the hard work of a bipartisan team of senators and the Administration for their role in crafting S.1348. We realize that many difficult issues will remain, but it is critical that the process moves forward.

The contours of a sound compromise are there, addressing all the major elements needed by the business community: a path to recruit future workers needed from abroad when there are not enough U.S. workers available; a mechanism for qualified undocumented workers to earn legal status; and a new employment verification system. The package also includes strong border protection provisions.

As with most interested groups, we have some major and minor concerns with S. 1348 and look forward to working with the Senate to seek important improvements as the process continues.

However, because of the dire need to fix the United States' broken immigration system, we need you to continue work on achieving comprehensive immigration reform this year. The status quo is clearly unacceptable.

John J. Castellani

President

Business Roundtable

Jay Timmons
Sr. Vice President-Policy & Government Relations
National Association of Manufacturers

Dirk Van Dongen

President

National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors

Dan Danner
Senior Vice President-Public Policy
National Federation of Independent Business

John Gay

Senior Vice President-Government Affairs

National Restaurant Association

R. Bruce Josten
Executive Vice President-Government Affairs
U.S. Chamber of Commerce