Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for holding a hearing on the topic of United States population and immigration. Many of the issues and concerns that will be raised today will reflect the need to take a holistic approach to an immigration policy here in the United States. The groups that testify today will highlight the significance of immigration and population growth in the U.S., but I believe this issue can’t be fully explored without addressing the concern of world population.

When my father immigrated to the United States a little under a century ago, the American sentiment was to limit immigrants from entering our country, fearing mass immigration would overpopulate our nation. That thinking still applies today and we continue to limit our population in the U.S., but our protectionist attitude has done little to curtail the population growth of other countries. As history has proven, immigrants who gain U.S. citizenship actually become very resourceful and tend to have less offspring, in comparison to the country they emigrated from. This amazing phenomenon occurs because they become better educated and assimilate into our culture. Regardless of the strides we make to limit our population and the immigrants that settle in this country, the U.S. has done little to slow down the growth rate of other countries.

In the U.S., we place a heavy emphasis on balancing environmental concerns and population control, but many countries pay little attention to this delicate issue. This world has only a finite amount of natural resources, thus forcing population and environment to constantly be at odds with one another. The U.S. must remain dedicated to maintaining a responsible immigration policy and offering a balanced conservation plan within the U.S., but also remain cognizant of the fact that increasing world population growth will also dictate the future health of this nation.

I thank the Chairman for holding this hearing and for his leadership on addressing the issue of U.S. Population and immigration.

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