Bridging the Gap for New Americans Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CROW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 3157, a bill to help eliminate barriers to employment facing immigrants and refugees across the country.

I represent one of the most diverse districts in Colorado, and we know in Colorado and in my community that diversity is our strength.

Many of our immigrant refugee neighbors have skills and professional credentials they can't use because of regulatory hurdles. These hurdles, whether language barriers, difficulty in recognizing credentials, or a lack of professional networks, prevent many from making a good living for their families or contributing fully to our economy in reaching their full potential.

The unemployment and underemployment of these folks is a missed opportunity for our businesses, for our community, and for our country.

In 2016, across the U.S., nearly 2 million immigrants with college degrees were unable to find work or were employed in low-wage jobs. This includes more than one-third of the 11,000 immigrants in the State of Colorado with health-related undergraduate degrees in 2020.

Identifying these barriers to full employment for these immigrants and refugees is an essential first step to overcoming them. This bill would direct the Department of Labor to conduct a collaborative interagency study of the barriers that hold back refugees and immigrants from their full potential.

I thank Senator Klobuchar and Congressman Katko for their diligence in this effort, and I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting passage of this bill today.

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