Contact: Gerry Fritz, (703) 812-2062               [email protected]

For Immediate Release February 12, 2013

Washington, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s State of the Union address:

“We welcome President Obama’s call for comprehensive immigration reform,” said ABC Vice President of Government Affairs Geoff Burr. “Legal immigrants play a vital role in our construction workforce. Unfortunately, current immigration laws disproportionately affect construction companies due to their fluctuating work needs.

“While the president’s plan is a positive step forward, we are disappointed that he neglected to address the need for a temporary guest worker program for non-agriculture year-round skilled workers,” Burr said.

“A guest worker program is essential to the success of any viable immigration system reform,” said Burr. “Previous attempts to address immigration reform have been unsuccessful precisely because they did not address this issue.

“ABC believes any successful reform measure must work to ensure proper enforcement of U.S. laws, guarantee the security of the nation’s borders and nurture economic prosperity,” Burr said. “Immigration reform will fail without a legal channel allowing willing, essential foreign workers to work legally in this country.”

---

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association with 72 chapters representing 22,000 merit shop construction and construction-related firms. Visit us at www.abc.org.