2006年VOA标准英语-US Senate Examines Economics of Immigration

By Deborah Tate
Washington
12 July 2006
 
The Bush administration - pressing Congress to complete immigration reform legislation, is highlighting the contributions immigrants make to the U.S. economy.  

 
Carlos Gutierrez testifies on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, July 12, 2006
 
  
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday to discuss the impact immigrants have on the U.S. economy.

There may be no better spokesman on the issue than Gutierrez.

The 53-year-old Commerce Secretary was born in Havana, Cuba, and fled to the United States with his family when he was six. He learned English, became a U.S. citizen, and later studied business administration. He took an entry-level sales job at the cereal manufacturing company Kellogg's, where he rose through the ranks to become Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer before President Bush nominated him to his current post.

Under questioning by committee chairman, Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Gutierrez highlighted the role immigrants play in the growth of the U.S. economy.

"The unemployment rate for undocumented workers is actually below the national average, which suggests that they come for one reason and one reason only, and that is to work," he said. "Approximately - these are estimates - five or six percent of our jobs are carried out by undocumented workers."

"And is their presence here, their contribution to the economy, a net gain that ripples² through to the benefit of all the rest of us in this country," asked Specter.

"Absolutely, the owners of the businesses that have access to those workers in turn become consumers, in turn spend money in our economy, they invest in their businesses," replied Gutierrez. "The immigrants become consumers. There is a multiplying effect to our economy, that every estimate I have seen suggests it is positive."

But some in Congress, Republican conservatives in particular, believe illegal immigrants could be taking a toll³ on the U.S. economy and local social services.

Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, says Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to get emergency health care because undocumented workers who do not have insurance that would pay for routine doctor visits are filling hospital emergency rooms.

"Twenty-five percent of my constituents⁴ in Texas do not have health insurance, and a large number of those are undocumented immigrants who show up in emergency rooms, and so emergency rooms go on divert status, where true emergencies have to go to wherever they can find the help," noted⁵ Cornyn

But Senator Ted¹ Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat⁶, cited statistics from the National Research Council that suggest immigrants in general contribute to the tax base that funds services.

"Overall, an immigrant and his family contribute over 80,000 more in taxes over their lifetime than they consume in services," he said.

Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, noting that most undocumented workers in the United States are low-skilled, argued that more should be done to attract high-skilled immigrants to this country.

"We need high-skilled workers, they make a great contribution. Our marketplace needs low-skilled workers as well. Most of the immigrant generations that have come to this country have been low-skilled," Gutierrez responded. "The first generation is low-skilled. But because they come to work, because they come in search of a dream, they work very hard to ensure that their children are not low-skilled."

Immigration advocates argue that many of the undocumented workers in the United States are doing jobs that Americans generally are unwilling⁷ to do, including manual labor⁸ in agriculture and construction.

Gutierrez's appearance on Capitol Hill comes as the Senate and House of Representatives are preparing to reconcile vastly different immigration reform bills passed by each chamber⁹. The effort to find common ground between the two different pieces of legislation reflects the tensions surrounding the issue that are being playing out in the much of the country.

Ben Johnson, director of the Washington-based non-profit Immigration Policy Center put it this way.

"The real challenges we face today stem from the fact that we send two messages at our border: help wanted and keep out," he said. "The byproduct of this schizophrenia is that law enforcement agencies, businesses and families are stuck between a rock and a hard place. In short, we have created an unsustainable contradiction between U.S. economic policy and U.S. immigration policy, and economics is winning. We can either continue to spend billions of dollars in an immigration enforcement battle with our own economy and our own labor force, or we can create an immigration system that is not only good at keeping people out, but effective at allowing people in."

The Senate has passed a bill that includes a guest worker provision that would allow many of the estimated 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants a path to eventual¹⁰ citizenship¹¹ if they meet certain conditions. It also would bolster¹² border security.

A House-passed bill focuses on border security enforcement, and does not contain the guest worker provision. It designates illegal immigrants felons¹³ to be deported¹⁴.

The Bush administration favors the Senate approach. Gutierrez argues an enforcement-only bill would send illegal immigrants into hiding.

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 ripples   

逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
• The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

7 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

10 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

11 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

12 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

13 felons   

n.重罪犯( felon的名词复数 )；瘭疽；甲沟炎；指头脓炎

参考例句：

• Aren't those the seats they use for transporting convicted felons? 这些坐位不是他们用来押运重犯的吗？ 来自电影对白
• House Republicans talk of making felons out of the undocumented and those who help them. 众议院共和党议员正商议对未登记的非法移民以及包庇他们的人课以重罪。 来自互联网

14 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》