Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HCR44 Compare Versions

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1	1	83R26486 CBE-D
2	2	By: Anchia, Villalba, Hernandez Luna, H.C.R. No. 44
3	3	Martinez Fischer
4	4	Substitute the following for H.C.R. No. 44:
5	5	By: Oliveira C.S.H.C.R. No. 44
6	6
7	7
8	8	HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
9	9	WHEREAS, In an increasingly complex global economy,
10	10	transnational labor mobility is crucial to the prosperity of the
11	11	United States, but our rigid, outmoded immigration policies are
12	12	making it difficult for the nation to compete; and
13	13	WHEREAS, The United States Congress last enacted major
14	14	immigration legislation more than a quarter-century ago; since that
15	15	time, piecemeal attempts at reform have failed to create the kind of
16	16	rational and effective system we need to maintain competitiveness,
17	17	whether in industries like agriculture, construction, and
18	18	manufacturing, which require large numbers of workers able to
19	19	perform physically demanding tasks, or in technology, where the
20	20	demand for employees with advanced degrees in math and science is
21	21	projected to outstrip supply by 2018; and
22	22	WHEREAS, Immigrants perform vital functions in a variety of
23	23	industries, and in Texas, they start nearly a third of the state's
24	24	new businesses; even unauthorized immigrants produce more in state
25	25	revenue than they receive in state services, according to a 2006
26	26	study by the Office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts,
27	27	which estimated that their deportation would cause more than a six
28	28	percent decline in the workforce and nearly an $18 billion decline
29	29	in the gross state product; and
30	30	WHEREAS, The United States is now home to some 11 million
31	31	unauthorized immigrants, including millions of children brought to
32	32	this country illegally who have grown up here and know no home other
33	33	than the United States; a commonsense road map to earned legal
34	34	status for these residents would create additional tax revenue and
35	35	stimulate the economy by allowing them to open bank accounts,
36	36	obtain college degrees, buy homes, establish new American
37	37	companies, and create jobs; a recent study published by the Cato
38	38	Institute estimated that a complete overhaul of the immigration
39	39	system would yield at least $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross
40	40	domestic product over 10 years; and
41	41	WHEREAS, A rational overhaul of the immigration system
42	42	requires a tough, fair, and practical program to address the status
43	43	of unauthorized immigrants, stopping real threats and contingent on
44	44	bringing accountability to border enforcement programs, providing
45	45	additional funding for border communities that bear a
46	46	disproportionate burden in the enforcement of immigration laws, and
47	47	addressing visa overstays; in order to protect all workers, whether
48	48	native or foreign-born, it must include an efficient and
49	49	transparent employment verification system that identifies
50	50	qualified candidates while penalizing employers who knowingly hire
51	51	unauthorized immigrants; federal policy must also be designed to
52	52	develop a guest worker program to respond to the future labor needs
53	53	of U.S. business by matching willing workers with willing American
54	54	employers; and
55	55	WHEREAS, Recognizing the characteristics that will help
56	56	build prosperity and strengthen our society, a commonsense road map
57	57	to earned legal status for unauthorized immigrants would encompass
58	58	a health and criminal background check, proof of a stable U.S. work
59	59	history and current employment, and payment of relevant fines and
60	60	taxes; to gain probationary legal status, individuals would be
61	61	further required to demonstrate knowledge of English and American
62	62	civics and go to the back of the same line as those prospective
63	63	immigrants seeking to come to the United States legally; fairness
64	64	demands that the system take into account special circumstances
65	65	surrounding candidates for probationary legal status, such as
66	66	minors brought to the country as children or agricultural workers
67	67	whose labor is essential to maintain the food supply; and
68	68	WHEREAS, The United States is a nation founded upon respect
69	69	for the rule of law; national security and our national interests
70	70	are poorly served by an embattled immigration system, and patchwork
71	71	attempts to mend its deficiencies undermine our potential for
72	72	prosperity and leave us ill-prepared to meet the challenges of the
73	73	modern world; and
74	74	WHEREAS, Solutions that provide for blanket amnesty, such as
75	75	those presented in the Simpson-Mazzoli Act of 1986, encourage
76	76	future violations of the law and should be excluded from the panoply
77	77	of options to be considered by the United States Congress; now,
78	78	therefore, be it
79	79	RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas
80	80	hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to swiftly
81	81	enact and fund comprehensive immigration reform that creates both a
82	82	commonsense road map to earned legal status for some 11 million
83	83	unauthorized immigrants and a guest worker program that
84	84	contemplates the future needs of U.S. business, in furtherance of
85	85	our nation's economic growth and national security; and, be it
86	86	further
87	87	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
88	88	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
89	89	the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
90	90	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
91	91	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
92	92	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
93	93	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.