Business Roundtable-member CEOs were well-represented the White House Tuesday when President Obama met with business leaders on immigration reform.
BRT recently created a new Select Committee on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, chaired by Greg Brown of Motorola Solutions. Brown gave several interviews of note on how immigration reform is a key to restoring economic robust growth to the United States.
From Crain's Chicago Business, John Pletz's technology blog, "CEOs stress economic benefits of immigration at White House":
While immigration has proved to be a touchy political subject in recent years, Mr. Brown, who chairs the Business Roundtable's committee on immigration reform, said many business leaders don't see it that way.
“There's a lot of misinformation around immigration and stigmas,” he said. “But when you look at the economics . . . when you broaden the tax base — not to mention it's the principles on which our country is founded — it's pretty easy to get your head around. We really believe the economy is poised to take off. If we can get comprehensive immigration reform, it will further attract capital to the U.S. The best and brightest will be retained. I think it will accelerate the recovery.”
Successful immigration reform also could improve the country's image, which has suffered from several years of political gridlock. “A nice byproduct would be to demonstrate, after a big election, bipartisan support around a critical issue to show the world momentum and that we can get things done,” Mr. Brown said.
Other BRT-member CEOs attending the session were Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs; Marrisa Mayer, Yahoo!; Joe Echevarria, Deloitte; Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm; Muhtar Kent, Coca-Cola; Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa.
More news...
- CNBC.com, "Obama Seeks Backing of CEOs on Immigration Reform"
- CNN.com, "Video: Economy would benefit from immigration reform, Blankfein says"
- Marketwatch.com, "CEOs see light at end of immigration tunnel"
- Bloomberg, "White House Woos Business and Labor on Immigration Revamp"
- Politico, "Business, labor leaders talk guest workers at White House"
Bloomberg interview with Brown: