Washington, DC –U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Vice Chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), today made the following statement after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its cost estimate for the comprehensive immigration reform legislation currently being debated in the U.S. Senate. The CBO estimates the bill will result in $197 billion in deficit reduction through 2023: 
  
“As this new CBO score clearly shows, immigration reform isn’t just the right thing to do—it also makes good economic sense. That’s a point Grover Norquist made when I invited him to testify at a recent hearing I held in the Joint Economic Committee, where he stressed the critical role of immigration reform in reducing the deficit and growing our economy. As we focus on getting our fiscal house in order, I’m hopeful this new CBO score will convince more of my colleagues to put politics aside and come together to pass a commonsense bill that moves America forward.”   

Klobuchar recently held a Joint Economic Committee hearing that highlighted the strong fiscal and economic arguments for comprehensive reform. Klobuchar invited Grover Norquist, Founder and President of Americans for Tax Reform, to testify at the hearing, where Norquist underscored the positive economic impact immigration reform would have on the economy and argued that reform would reduce, rather than increase, the deficit.

Klobuchar is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which passed the bill last month with bipartisan support. The legislation includes key provisions Klobuchar authored to reform the visa system to help ensure the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs get their start in America and increase the number of doctors able to work in the United States. The bill also includes Klobuchar’s amendments to boost science and technology education, protect victims of domestic violence and elder abuse, and improve visa processing to encourage international tourism.

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