By SHELDON G. ADELSON,
WARREN E. BUFFETT and BILL GATES
July 10, 2014
AMERICAN
citizens are paying 535 people to take care of the legislative needs of the
country. We are getting shortchanged. Here’s an example: On June 10, an
incumbent congressman in Virginia lost a primary election in which his opponent
garnered only 36,105 votes. Immediately, many Washington legislators threw up
their hands and declared that this one event would produce paralysis in the
United States Congress for at least five months. In particular, they are
telling us that immigration reform — long overdue — is now hopeless.
Americans
deserve better than this.
The three of us
vary in our politics and would differ also in our preferences about the details
of an immigration reform bill. But we could without doubt come together to
draft a bill acceptable to each of us. We hope that fact holds a lesson: You
don’t have to agree on everything in order to cooperate on matters about which
you are reasonably close to agreement. It’s time that this brand of thinking
finds its way to Washington.
Most Americans
believe that our country has a clear and present interest in enacting
immigration legislation that is both humane to immigrants living here and a
contribution to the well-being of our citizens. Reaching these goals is
possible. Our present policy, however, fails badly on both counts.
We believe it
borders on insanity to train intelligent and motivated people in our
universities — often subsidizing their education — and then to deport them when
they graduate. Many of these people, of course, want to return to their home
country — and that’s fine. But for those who wish to stay and work in computer
science or technology, fields badly in need of their services, let’s roll out
the welcome mat.
A “talented
graduate” reform was included in a bill that the Senate approved last year by a
68-to-32 vote. It would remove the worldwide cap on the number of visas that
could be awarded to legal immigrants who had earned a graduate degree in
science, technology, engineering or mathematics from an accredited institution
of higher education in the United States, provided they had an offer of
employment. The bill also included a sensible plan that would have allowed
illegal residents to obtain citizenship, though only after they had earned the
right to do so.
Americans are a
forgiving and generous people, and who among us is not happy that their
forebears — whatever their motivation or means of entry — made it to our soil?
For the future,
the United States should take all steps to ensure that every prospective
immigrant follows all rules and that people breaking these rules, including any
facilitators, are severely punished. No one wants a replay of the present mess.
We also believe
that America’s self-interest should be reflected in our immigration policy. For
example, the EB-5 “immigrant investor program,” created by Congress in 1990,
was intended to allow a limited number of foreigners with financial resources
or unique abilities to move to our country, bringing with them substantial and
enduring purchasing power. Reports of fraud have surfaced with this program,
and we believe it should be reformed to prevent abuse but also expanded to
become more effective. People willing to invest in America and create jobs
deserve the opportunity to do so.
Their
citizenship could be provisional — dependent, for example, on their making
investments of a certain size in new businesses or homes. Expanded investments
of that kind would help us jolt the demand side of our economy. These immigrants
would impose minimal social costs on the United States, compared with the
resources they would contribute. New citizens like these would make hefty
deposits in our economy, not withdrawals.
Whatever the
precise provisions of a law, it’s time for the House to draft and pass a bill
that reflects both our country’s humanity and its self-interest. Differences
with the Senate should be hammered out by members of a conference committee,
committed to a deal.
A Congress that
does nothing about these problems is extending an irrational policy by default;
that is, if lawmakers don’t act to change it, it stays the way it is,
irrational. The current stalemate — in which greater pride is attached to
thwarting the opposition than to advancing the nation’s interests — is
depressing to most Americans and virtually all of its business managers. The
impasse certainly depresses the three of us.Signs of a more productive attitude in Washington — which passage of a well-designed immigration bill would provide — might well lift spirits and thereby stimulate the economy. It’s time for 535 of America’s citizens to remember what they owe to the 318 million who employ them.
Sheldon G. Adelson is the chairman and chief executive of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Warren E. Buffett is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway. Bill Gates, former chairman and chief executive of Microsoft, is co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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