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

For Immediate Release April 16, 2013

Washington, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Senate introduction of immigration reform legislation:

“We congratulate the senators on taking this important first step toward fixing our broken immigration system in the United States,” said ABC Vice President of Federal Affairs Geoff Burr. “As this push toward comprehensive reform continues, the construction industry looks forward to working with Congress to improve this proposal.

“A guest worker program is essential to the success of any viable reform to our immigration system, however the current plan for construction is simply too small to address the workforce needs of our  industry in times of both high and low unemployment,” Burr said. “The plan fails to provide a sufficient number of visas to meet market demand.

“As the nation’s construction sector recovers, it will inevitably be more difficult to fill critical labor openings, and make it impossible to secure the border,” said Burr. “For these reforms to be successful, we believe the cap on visas should be determined by labor market demand—the only measure that truly reflects the needs of the economy and our industry.”

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Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC) is a national trade association representing 22,000 members from more than 19,000 construction and industry-related firms. Founded on the merit shop philosophy, through its 72 chapters, ABC helps its members win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which they work. Visit us at www.abc.org.