Supporting Making Portuguese Citizens Eligible for E1 and E2 Visas

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to join me in fostering further investment in our United States economy by one of our oldest allies, Portugal.

As a co-chair of the Congressional Portuguese Caucus, I am proud to join Congressmen Cicilline and Valadao in leading the AMIGOS Act, which will make Portuguese citizens eligible for E1 and E2 visas. These visas allow individuals to enter the United States to conduct substantial trade or invest a substantial amount of capital, which spurs investment in our economy and helps create jobs. That is, after all, what we do with our friends, with our allies.

In 2015 alone, between Portugal and the United States, there was $4.2 billion in trade. That created jobs here in the United States. It creates jobs in Portugal. It is good for both countries, and that is the way friends ought to work together.

There is precedent here. Congress granted eligibility for Israel in 2012 with the E1 and E2 visas, which allow for easier access for businesspeople who are engaged in these kinds of economic activities. What is more, Portugal was one of the first countries to recognize the United States after we declared our independence and won the Revolutionary War.

For many of us, if we remember our history, after World War II, to defend Western democracies, Portugal, along with the United States, helped organize Western Europe to create NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, that has been the bulwark of defense of Western ideals that are the foundation of our democracies.

For these reasons and more, I call upon my colleagues to join me in supporting a commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation, the AMIGOS Act, which will further opportunities for business in America by creating more jobs and continue to enhance the relationship that has existed for over 200 years between the United States and Portugal.

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