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| Relative proportions of immigrants from Northwestern Europe (red) and Southern and Eastern Europe (blue) in the decades before and after the immigration restriction legislation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeMy parents, originally of Indian origin, barely escaped the brutal regime of Idi Amin in Uganda. Forced to flee during the government’s violent persecution of foreigners, my family lost everything. But amnesty in America gave them a chance to rebuild. A highly qualified mechanical engineer, my father found work in a machine shop. My mother was pregnant – arriving in a new country with little money, our family couldn’t afford medical treatment. My sister was born at a local hospital supported by Catholic Charities, and my father still describes the free care my family received as a miracle...... After the enactment of the Patriot Act, I volunteered with the New York Bar Association to offer free legal services to documented immigrants in Queens. I painfully witnessed innocent New Yorkers having their civil liberties being violated day after day. This experience emboldened me to build a national movement within the Democratic Party to encourage South Asian Americans to get involved in the political process. ...... my deep understanding of the financial industry ..... We need a bridge builder who can align the ambitions of Wall Street with the needs of Main Street to rebuild our economy. We need to reclaim the City of Aspiration, and create hope and opportunity for everyone – from the small business owner in Murray Hill, to the woman behind the counter at the bodega in Astoria, to the public school teacher in the East Village. I believe these times call for innovative policies and bold leadership to prepare the next generation for the new global economy.Empire State of Security
The danger is that the US today risks losing the high tech race to India, China, Brazil, and other emerging economies. ........our economic competitiveness and our national security are increasingly not distinct issues, but two sides of the same coin...... The future of our national security is inextricably linked with our efforts to get our budgets back in the black, revitalize our economy, manage our borders, and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy. ....... We need more networked cooperation with foreign intelligence agencies to thwart terrorist plots. We need more spending on high tech port security to prevent smuggled nuclear material from landing on our shores in containers. That means reinstating the 28 percent drop in Transit Security Grant funding for New York this year. ..... . What we really need is toComprehensive Immigration Reform to Create Jobs and Secure our Future
rethink what national security means, and how to achieve it. ......Increasingly, security means innovation. ..... I plan to work with President Obama to double the National Science Foundation's funding, make the Research and Experimentation tax credit permanent, and restore our national R&D investment to its previous level of 3 percent of GDP. .....as the city with the highest concentration of hospitals in the world, and the largest concentration of research facilities in the nation, New York can spearhead a new national biotech strategy. With eager investors and a rich talent pool, we're the ideal place to ramp-up a new National Innovation Fund that leverages private investment against national priorities, notably biotechnology research. ....... In 2009, for the first time, China topped the G-20 in clean energy investing, more then doubling what the US committed to this sector. ..... the President's proposal for 25 percent of our national energy portfolio to come from renewable, homegrown sources by 2025. ...... craft a comprehensive national security strategy (read: national innovation strategy) that will secure a prosperous and safe future for all Americans. ....New York can lead the way.
From 1995 to 2005, over 25 percent of technology companies started in the US had a key immigrant founder. These companies generated over $50 billion in sales and employed half a million Americans during that span. Immigrants are just 12 percent of our population but earn a staggering 47 percent of the nation's science and technology PhDs and file for 24 percent of US patents. Today, over 50 percent of the immigrants returning to India or China hold advanced degrees......We should lift the cap on H1-B and EB-5 work and investor visas and pass the "StartUp Visa" program ..... Creating a pathway towards legal status for the 12 million illegal immigrants in the US today would boost GDP by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. Implementing a guest worker program would add another $792 billion to GDP during the same period. ...... reframe the debate around cultural inclusion, economic competitiveness, and plain common sense ....... moving illegal immigrants from our under-the-table economy to our above-the-table economy is smart fiscal policy for the nation ......In 2010, New York's share of the Department of Homeland Security Transit Security Grant Program - which funds sensors and bomb detecting equipment - fell by 28 percent. This is unacceptable. ...... pass provisions for illegal immigrants who have critical witness information to come forward and help law enforcement personnel address street crimes and security threats .....3.1 million American children have at least one parent who is in the US illegally ...... the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow US citizens in same-sex couples to sponsor their partners for legal immigration status ..... 36,000 of these couples are at risk of being separated because one partner is not a citizen ...... I am the daughter of political refugees. My family was forced to flee the brutal regime of Idi Amin after he ordered the mass expulsion of Indians from Uganda. They lost almost everything, and sought asylum from many countries, but were only offered that opportunity in the United States.On Women's Rights, Democrats Should Stand Up, Not Back Down
In times of political turmoil, when difficult decisions were required, Democrats stood their ground and fought hard for the Civil Rights Act, Social Security, Medicaid, Head Start, campaign finance reform, and other critical legislation....... As a leader of one of the most progressive districts in the nation, the representative of the 14th should always stand up and fight for core Democratic principles, such as reproductive choice. ...... Deal making is part of the political process. But a core Democratic principle like a woman's right to choose should have never been on the table for negotiation. ....... If there's one thing that separates the two parties, it's that Democrats are the party of principle. And when we stick to our principles, our party wins, and our nation wins. ....... (I spoke at event recently on the need to focus on job creation. Someone asked me if I was really a Republican. It's clear our party has lost its way when New York Democrats think job creation is the sole territory of the GOP.) ...... We need to stop "legislating in haste and repenting at leisure." We need to stop "voting against the bill before we vote for it."Financial Reform From Soup to Nuts
.....Wall Street needs to stop obstructing reform in Washington...... Congress needs to stop demonizing Wall Street...... It's about eliminating the bad lending practices, encouraged by loose regulation, which together have conspired against the entire economy. It's about a new regulatory framework that empowers Wall Street to generate growth and jobs in New York City and across America. ...... I'm not making the case to engage the financial sector because it used to pay my rent. If the circus were the biggest employer in New York, I'd fight for every acrobat and ringmaster in the tri-state area. ..... We need to work with Wall Street to move high finance away from unsustainable short-term thinking, and toward long-term investments in clean-tech, biotech, nanotech, health-tech, and new media......Generation Innovation: Creating Jobs and Growth in New York City
New York ... even managed to reach the highest point in the sky at the lowest moment of the depression." ..... New York City has always been a place of possibility, innovation, and imagination. That's why, in the wake of the Great Recession, our sustained economic crisis calls for an audacious economic vision. ....... The national retailer Macy's started in 1858 as a modest dry goods store on 6th Ave. and 14th Street. MetLife, one of the nation's largest insurers, began as a downtown startup during Reconstruction. ...... the world's most vibrant and diverse city, and also the world's most vibrant and diverse economy. ....... Since the 1970s, New York City's economy has been dominated by the financial services sector. ....... In 2007, an astounding 38 percent of the New York City's total payroll came from the financial sector. ....... New York must and will remain an epicenter for global finance. But we must also diversify our economy. ........ Bailouts have targeted mega-banks, and stimulus dollars have gone to construction contractors. These are necessary measures, but they're not sufficient to spark the kind of innovation we need to jumpstart economic growth in New York City. The Bloomberg Administration has certainly demonstrated progress in this area, doing what it can on a tight city budget - but there's a long way to go, and federal funding can help. ........some 47 New York venture capital firms funded startups to the tune of more than $2 billion in the first half of 2009. ..... growth industries such as clean-tech, high-speed rail, and broadband ...... investing in the dreamers and doers of tomorrow.
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