In the modern global economy, highly skilled workers are increasingly important to continued growth and prosperity. Yet despite the dramatically increasing demand for foreign skilled labor, Congress has failed to increase the number of H-1B visas.
As a result, U.S. immigration laws permit only a fraction of willing, skilled workers to add their talents to our society, reducing the welfare of both domestic workers and those who were denied access.
Please join Senator Judd Gregg and Cato scholar Daniel Griswold for a discussion of reforming U.S. immigration policy to improve economic growth, expand individual choice, and maintain America's competitive advantage in innovation- Cato Institute
Bio
Brandon Arnold
Before joining Cato in 2005 as director of government affairs, Arnold served as manager of external affairs in Maryland governor Robert Ehrlich's energy office. As such, he coordinated energy policy and legislative initiatives for the agency and testified before several committees of the Maryland General Assembly.
Arnold has also worked as a senior legislative aide to Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., as a policy analyst for Citizens for a Sound Economy, and as a research analyst for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Arnold holds a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Senator Judd Gregg
In November 2004, Senator Judd Gregg was re-elected to a third term in the United States Senate, receiving the highest number of votes in any election in New Hampshire history.
The 110th Congress provides Senator Gregg a number of key leadership and committee positions that give him an influential voice in national affairs, including serving as both the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and as ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies.
Senator Gregg remains a senior member of the Senate HELP Committee where he served as chairman from 2003 through 2005. He also retains his position on the Senate Appropriations Committee with seats on the Commerce, Justice and Science, Interior, Defense, Labor-Health-Education, and Homeland Security Subcommittees.
Through these positions, Senator Gregg impacts the national debate on such vital issues as overseeing the federal budget, homeland security and national defense, education international affairs, law enforcement, social security, and health care.
Senator Gregg's accomplishments include working to secure our homeland and defend our nation against terrorism locally and nationally; promoting responsible federal spending; increasing America's energy independence; supporting policies that promote strong economic growth in New Hampshire and the nation; and protecting New Hampshire's environment.
As the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee in the 110th Congress, Senator Gregg's third term agenda includes a continuation of his work to create and pass a responsible and prudent bipartisan federal budget so that our nation continues to protect our borders and military personnel while controlling federal spending. Senator Gregg will work with other leaders in Congress to aggressively reduce the size of our federal budget deficit while addressing the rate of growth of entitlements.
In addition to these responsibilities, and knowing that millions of Americans rely on Social Security, Senator Gregg remains deeply involved in efforts to save the program. He previously served as bipartisan co-chair of the National Commission on Retirement Policy, Co-Chair of the Senate Republican Task Force on Social Security, and Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee Task Force on Social Security. In past Congresses, he introduced a landmark bipartisan proposal to save Social Security for the next 100 years without raising taxes and to move us closer to solving this core public policy problem.
As the newly appointed ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies, Senator Gregg will assume a prominent role in formulating U.S. foreign policy. The subcommittee is involved in shaping U.S. foreign policy through its oversight of international affairs budgets and in assessing and prioritizing national security interests overseas. Senator Gregg will work to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated strategic plan for the foreign affairs budget to produce the greatest benefits worldwide for our country.
A New Hampshire native, Senator Gregg was born in Nashua on February 14, 1947. He received his J.D. in 1972 from Boston University Law School and his L.L.M. in tax law in 1975. Upon graduating from law school, he returned to Nashua and became a partner in the law firm of Sullivan, Gregg and Horton.
He is married to Kathleen MacLellan Gregg. They have two daughters, Molly and Sarah, and a son, Joshua. Senator and Mrs. Gregg are residents of Rye Beach, New Hampshire.
Daniel T. Griswold
Daniel T. Griswold is director of the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies. Since joining Cato in 1997, he has authored or coauthored major studies on globalization, the World Trade Organization, the U.S. trade deficit, trade and democracy, immigration, and other subjects.
Griswold's October 2002 paper "Willing Workers: Fixing the Problem of Illegal Mexican Migration to the United States" was used in the Flake-Kolbe-McCain immigration bill in 2003, which President Bush drew upon in early 2004 as the basis for his guest worker program. Griswold has testified before congressional committees and federal agencies on immigration, the trade deficit, steel trade, and the costs of protectionism.
Earlier in his career, he served as a congressional press secretary and the editorial page editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette. Griswold has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, and other publications, and has appeared on C-SPAN, CNN, PBS, BBC, and Fox News Channel. He holds a MS in the politics of the world economy from the London School of Economics.
Senator Judd Gregg from New Hampshire explains the importance of immigrants to the United States' continued success in the global economy and suggests ways to expand current visa programs to more accurately reflect the international demand for visas.
Director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute Daniel Griswold explains the economic benefits of expanding the number of highly skilled immigrants allowed into the U.S. and states that failing to allow skilled immigrants in would be shooting ourselves in the foot.
