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House lawmakers are rallying around new immigration legislation aimed at tackling the nationwide labor shortage by bringing workers into the United States from abroad.
A dozen Democrats and Republicans joined Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) Tuesday to introduce the H-2 Improvements to Relieve Employers (HIRE) Act, a bipartisan bill that would overhaul decades-old visa protocols and expand them based on the demand of U.S. companies and sectors for workers.
"This isn't just about a handful of members that are throwing a napkin at the wall and blaming other people for what's wrong," Gonzales said during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol Tuesday. "It's a heavy lift. Immigration reform is a heavy lift, but it starts with people rolling up their sleeves and going to work."
The HIRE Act is set to be formally introduced later Tuesday. Gonzales said the proposal has already been endorsed by 16 lawmakers and 30 major organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The USHCC represents more than 5 million Hispanic-owned businesses nationwide.
"We support the HIRE Act to streamline the visa process and ensure that our businesses and all businesses across the country can receive the workers that they need and continue to thrive and grow and be prosperous," said Anthony Hinojosa, USHCC vice president of government and international affairs. --->READ MORE HERE
Republican Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas held a press conference Tuesday introducing the bipartisan H-2 Improvements to Relieve Employers (HIRE) Act as a solution to abate unprecedented inflationary US workforce shortages and to help improve border security. The bill, which already has the support of 15 bipartisan cosponsors and over 30 business organizations, would update temporary work visas by cutting down on bureaucracy and extending their length from one to three years, helping to provide US businesses with needed workers to fill jobs that they can’t find the Americans to do.
The bipartisan effort of lawmakers on the bill provides hope that Congress will take a sensible first step towards fixing the broken immigration system that has lacked solutions for decades due to uncompromising poltical partisanship. Gonzales called on his colleagues to come together and support the bill.
“This is an important topic that a lot of people spend energy on and I think not enough energy is spent on solving the problem… this isn’t just a bunch of politicians rolling out a bill and throwing it against the wall and blaming the swamp for why it isn’t passed,” said Gonzales at during a press conference at the Capitol.
“Why is this bill needed? Congress has become very partisan. There’s a lot of bickering that happens up here. A little too much partisanship for my liking. I think it’s important that Congress get a shot in the arm of bipartisanship, and that’s exactly what this bill is built to do. It’s built to have us take one step forward. Maybe it’s not the answer to everything, but one step forward. If we as a team can come together and stop pointing fingers at each other and take one step in the 188th Congress, then maybe we can take two steps, and then all of the sudden we’re walking and then running. We can’t do that alone,” he added. --->READ MORE HERE
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