WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, member of the "Gang of Eight," delivered the following remarks on the Senate Floor regarding yesterday's release of the Congressional Budget Office scoring report on the Gang of 8's comprehensive immigration reform bill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfHJk3Zspfw

Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

"I come to the floor with even more good news about the Gang of 8's immigration reform proposal. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the bill is good for the American economy. We in the Gang of 8 have spent months working on this bipartisan effort because we knew it was good for the country. Now we have the official word from CBO confirming that it will reduce our nation's deficit and grow our nation's economy. As you can see in this graph, CBO's analysis shows our bill will increase the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 3.3% in the first 10 years after enactment and 5.4% in the second 10 years. That means the bipartisan immigration reform we're debating in the Senate will actually grow our economy, not harm it as some of the ardent opponents have tried to argue.

"I've been saying this all along: bringing 11 million people out of the shadows will increase our economic growth, and now we know by how much.

"The CBO Report also tells us we reduce the deficit by $197 billion over the next decade and by another $700 billion more between 2024 and 2033 through changes in direct spending and revenues. We're talking about almost a trillion dollars in deficit spending that we can lift from the backs of the next generation by giving 11 million people a pathway to productive citizenship.

"I've been saying all along: bringing 11 million people out of the shadows and fixing our broken immigration system will increase GDP and decrease the deficit, and now we know by how much.

"The Report found that revenue will come in payroll taxes, income taxes, fees, and fines estimated to be $459 billion in the first 10 years and $1.5 trillion in the second 10 years. It also found that there will be fewer unauthorized individuals coming into the U.S. under our bill.

"Contrary to what my friend from Alabama has continually claimed on the floor - the CBO found, and I quote: 'that the border enforcement and security provisions of the bill, along with implementation of the mandatory employment verification system, would decrease the net future flows of unauthorized people into the United States.' The bottom line of this report is clear. What the CBO numbers tell us is that 11 million people living in fear and in the shadows are not - as some would have us believe -- part of America's problem, but bringing them out of the shadows is actually part of the solution -- and part of strengthening America's economic future. They are a key to economic growth, and immigration reform will help save the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.

"What we realize today is that giving 11 million people a pathway to citizenship and fixing our broken immigration system is, in effect, an economic growth strategy and exactly the right thing to do.

"Frankly, the CBO numbers negate any reasonable argument the opponents of this legislation have -- every argument they have made is based on one thing and one thing only - that "those people" living in the shadows... "those people" trying to earn a living... "those people" trying to keep their families together -- are a symptom of American decline. Our history of immigration clearly contradicts these arguments and the CBO numbers confirm it.

"The opponents of this legislation couldn't be more wrong. Giving 11 million people a pathway to citizenship while strengthening our enforcement efforts is not a symptom of decline... on the contrary, it's a symbol of America's hope and a validation of American values, what we stand for as a nation and who we are as a people. And I believe a new generation of immigrants, willing to work hard and contribute to the economy, will help make this another century of American exceptionalism.

"I say to my friends on the other side -- I say to my friend from Alabama, who appears to have only gotten the CBO score for the first ten years, but not the second ten years - even though he was the one who asked for the CBO to score the second ten years. But, apparently, the second 10 years holds an inconvenient truth for my friend. The good news in this analysis actually gets better in the second ten years. The CBO reports that immigration reform will reduce the deficit by $700 billion, increase wages by half-a-percent, increase GDP by 5.4 percent, and increase productivity and innovation.

"As I listened to the Senator from Alabama make his remarks about the CBOs report on wages, I don't think the numbers say what he believes they say - he was talking about how American families' wages would go down, and the report explicitly says that's not the case.

"In fact, Ezra Klein wrote yesterday in the Post that the idea immigration would lower wages of already-working Americans is "actually a bit misleading... As for folks already here, CBO is careful to note that their estimates 'do not necessarily imply that current U.S. residents would be worse off' in the first 10 years, and in the second 10 years, they estimate that the average American's wages will actually rise."

"In addition, in case my friend from Alabama missed it, the Report also says: 'Although immigrants constituted 12 percent of the population in 2000, they accounted for 26 percent of US based Nobel Prize winners, and they made up 25 percent of public venture-backed companies started between 1990 and 2005.'

"The fact is - immigrants received patents at twice the rate of the native born U.S. population. The bottom line, as Ezra Klein puts it, "The bill's overall effect on the overall economy is unambiguously positive..." This is encouraging news for the American economy and validates what many of us have known all along.

"I would only say -- let's not take a good report, twist it for political purposes, and then preach to the fears of those who would oppose this legislation no matter how encouraging and positive the CBO's numbers are. This is a reason to move forward, not a reason for further obstruction.

"The CBO Report is encouraging enough, in my view, to make this legislation part of an economic recovery strategy and a long term competitiveness strategy. I ask the opponents of this legislation. Don't stand in the way of economic growth. Don't stand in the way of economic recovery. Say yes to immigration reform.

"Even Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, said yesterday:

'Today's CBO score is more evidence that immigration is key to economic growth. Immigration reform will jumpstart America's economy and reduce our national debt... I urge Congress to fix our broken immigration system for the sake of the American economy.'

"I don't usually agree with Grover Norquist, so the fact that we actually agree on this issue means we've done something right in the Gang of 8....something worthy of the support of even my most conservative colleagues. My friends on the other side are out of arguments.

"Ezra Klein does a good job of bottom-lining the CBO analysis: 'This isn't just a good CBO report. It's a wildly good CBO report. They're basically saying immigration reform is a free lunch: It cuts the deficit by growing the economy. It makes Americans better off and it makes immigrants better off. At a time when the U. S. economy desperately needs a bit of help, this bill, according to CBO, helps. And politically, it forces opponents of the bill onto the ground they're least comfortable occupying: They have to argue that immigration reform is bad for cultural or ethical reasons rather than economic ones.'

"The good news in this CBO report about the economic benefits of immigration reform is exactly why 70 percent of Americans support it. It's good for the economy. Once again we realize the breadth of support for this legislation goes far beyond politics or demographics or elections, it goes to our responsibility to the economy and to our country. We have an obligation to pass this legislation if we want to fix our immigration system and rebuild our economy.

"To those opponents of immigration reform who tell us 'those people' will come here and use services, demand more, and bankrupt the system, I would point them to this graphic. The sizable deficit reduction from immigration reform in the first 10 years is actually dwarfed by the amount that immigrants will continue to contribute to reducing the national deficit in the second 10 years. This clearly shows immigration reform is good for America now and in the long term. People have long realized, and the CBO numbers show us, that this legislation is - without a doubt -- the right thing to do. It benefits all of us.

"These are people who have come here to work, contribute to our economy and our economic competitiveness, pay their taxes and be part of the dream. The CBO Report simply puts numbers to what we've known all along.

With that, M. President, I yield the floor."

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