As House Moves On DACA, NAM Reaffirms Support For Congressional Action
Congress must come together and pass a comprehensive, bipartisan immigration overhaul.
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) sent a letter to Congress Thursday signed by dozens of manufacturing leaders across the country urging a bipartisan overhaul of the current immigration system and requesting Congress assure a safe future for Dreamers and participants in the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program.
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee completed a markup of legislation to address two immigration populations currently facing uncertainty. One bill would provide permanent relief from deportation for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals as well as a conditional permanent resident status and another for TPS recipients that includes a path forward to legally remain in the United States.
The full House is expected to vote on this legislation in June.
“Dreamers, including participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, and participants in the Temporary Protected Status program continue to face uncertainty under our broken immigration system,” the letter from the NAM reads. “Congress needs to send a strong signal that we welcome their talents, contributions of hard work, desire for education, and if serving, support their willingness to wear the uniform of the armed forces.”
Earlier this year, the NAM released “A Way Forward,” a plan for comprehensive immigration reform that bolsters border security while strengthening the economy and providing certainty for those immigrants who are anxious about their future.
“Manufacturers are in the business of building solutions, and ‘A Way Forward’ is manufacturers’ commitment to fix our immigration system once and for all—one we believe can bridge the partisan divide on long-lasting immigration issues, as well as time-sensitive challenges that continue to arise,” NAM Vice President of Infrastructure, Innovation and Human Resources Robyn Boerstling said. “Our plan proposes seven core areas of action for Congress and the administration to take that will bolster national security, show compassion to those seeking a better life and strengthen the American workforce.”
The solution to the challenges facing our immigration system won’t come easily, but the path toward it is clear: Congress must come together and pass a comprehensive, bipartisan immigration overhaul. ‘A Way Forward’ provides a roadmap for how to accomplish that goal.
“America is indeed a nation of immigrants, but America has also become a nation with a broken immigration system,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said in a letter earlier this year. “Manufacturers believe our leaders not only have an obligation to fix this system but also a historic opportunity to do so at a moment when Americans’ attention is focused on the issue like almost none other.
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Manufacturers Unveil Competitiveness Agenda Ahead of Midterm Elections
“Competing to Win” offers a path for bringing the country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose
Washington, D.C. – Ahead of the midterm elections, the National Association of Manufacturers released its policy roadmap, “Competing to Win,” a comprehensive blueprint featuring immediate solutions for bolstering manufacturers’ competitiveness. It is also a roadmap for policymakers on the laws and regulations needed to strengthen the manufacturing industry in the months and years ahead.
With the country facing rising prices, snarled supply chains and geopolitical turmoil, manufacturers are outlining an actionable competitiveness agenda that Americans across the political spectrum can support. “Competing to Win” includes the policies manufacturers in America will need in place to continue driving the country forward.
“‘Competing to Win’ offers a path for bringing our country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The NAM is putting forward a plan filled with ideas that policymakers could pursue immediately, including solutions to urgent problems, such as energy security, immigration reform, supply chain disruptions, the ongoing workforce shortage and more. Manufacturers have shown incredible resilience through difficult times, employing more workers now than before the pandemic, but continued resilience is not guaranteed without the policies that are critical to the state of manufacturing in America.”
The NAM and its members will leverage “Competing to Win” to shape policy debates ahead of the midterm elections, in the remainder of the 117th Congress and at the start of the 118th Congress—including in direct engagement with lawmakers, for grassroots activity, across traditional and digital media and through events in key states and districts as we did following the initial rollout of the roadmap in 2016.
The document focuses on 12 areas of action, and all policies are rooted in the values that have made America exceptional and keep manufacturing strong: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity.
Learn more about how manufacturers are leading and about the industry’s competitiveness agenda at nam.org/competing-to-win.
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The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12.8 million men and women, contributes $2.77 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 58% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org
