August 21 , 2013
www.gfb.org
Vol. 31 No. 34
FORMER GOVERNORS DISCUSS IMMIGRATION ISSUES Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell spoke at the Essential Economy Council’s “Comprehensive Immigration Reform in America,” a conversation exploring issues related to immigration at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta on Aug. 19. Barbour, a Republican, and Rendell, a Democrat, are co-chairs of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Immigration Task Force. While emphasizing that compromise will be essential to moving any immigration package forward, they both voiced support of the comprehensive immigration bill passed by the U.S. Senate on June 27, saying it takes steps to enforce rules for immigrants who have overstayed their visas. Both men shot down the idea that the bill would grant legal status for illegal immigrants at the expense of those who are in Barbour this country legally. “The good thing about the Senate bill is it gives those people who have applied for visas the right to have their visas before any of the 11 million undocumented people get theirs,” Rendell said. “There’s a lot of disinformation out there saying that those people who played by the rules are going to get passed over by these people who broke the rules. That’s simply not true.” Rendell said it is highly unlikely the House will bring S. 744 to a vote because of a rule House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has invoked requiring bills to pass the Republican caucus before they can be brought to the floor. Georgia Farm Bureau 4th District Director Skeetter McCorkle liked the fact that Rendell and Barbour have found common political ground on how to deal with immigration. “At the end of the day we’re all farmers, and farmers have to have workers. If we don’t have a workforce, we don’t have a business. We don’t have a farm,” said McCorkle. Barbour said the Senate bill is a step in the right direction and makes improvements over the current immigration framework. “The status quo is awful,” Barbour said. “To do nothing is the worst outcome.” Morgan County dairy farmer Everett Williams attended the event and felt it shed light on the importance of immigrants in the United States. “They are vital to our economy,” Williams said. “Any kind of economic study shows that they are contributing and they produce way more than they cost.” The panel discussion, which was moderated by Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editor Kevin Riley, drew approximately 60 representatives from a variety of stakeholder organizations, including a variety of agricultural groups. Georgia Farm Bureau was among the event’s sponsors.