"As far as I know, most organizations are avoiding population issues because they're politically frightened by the charge that comes from some proponents of immigration that if you oppose the immigration policy we have now, you're a racist..
"The evidence suggests that American would be better off if immigrants were more skilled. And it can be plausibly argued that a smaller number of immigrants would be beneficial for the country. But major changes in immigration policy occur only rarely.
"We no longer need settlers for virgin lands, and our economy is expanding more slowly than in the 19th and early 20th centuries. ... [My proposals] will have little effect on the number of immigrants admitted. ...
"Nevertheless, if we do not stabilize growth, our country eventually will be ruined by sheer numbers. It should give folks a clue that most of the immigrants, legal or illegal, are trying to get away from countries that are overpopulated.
'As a matter of public debate, immigration is a sensitive and explosive issue, and both legal and illegal immigration must be addressed with great sensitivity and care in order to advance the debate.
"If you look at America's scientific figures, there is no question what is at stake. High immigration and birth rates are driving the United States to record high population levels.
"...the United States today is in the midst of another immigration wave--the largest since the early 1900s. According to the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, immigrants now comprise about 10 percent of the total U.S. population.
"Actually, the inability of any society to resist immigration, the inability to find other solutions to the problem of employment at the lower, more physical, and menial levels of the economic process, is a serious weakness, and possibly even a fatal one, in any national society.
"America can and will stabilize its population by 2050 by our natural birth rate. Yet under current immigration rates, the U.S. is likely to double its population. It is up to us to choose. If we choose to continue to import to the U.S.
"...stabilizing the population will require a cut in the immigration numbers. Immigration is a contentious issue. The statistics, however, cannot be ignored. America's 'resident population' has been growing very slowly for the past 20 years.
"America's current immigration policy is a vast social experiment... It involves two gambles. First, we are betting that rapid population growth will have no significant adverse effect on the quality of our descendants' lives.
"Each year some 972,000 legal immigrants and hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens enter the United States. These immigrants ˜ including illegal aliens ˜ have been made eligible for various kinds of public assistance, including housing, education, Social Security, and legal services.
"As a nation with a long history of immigration and commitment to the rule of law, this country must set limits on who can enter and then credibly enforce our immigration law.
"Middle-range Census Bureau projections show our population rising to nearly 400 million by the year 2050, an increase the equivalent of adding 40 cities the size of Los Angeles.
"Opening America's borders and otherwise legalizing 'guest workers' will reduce the demand for Americans to fill those jobs. (The administration's claim that the program will be limited to jobs that 'no American worker is available and willing to take' is ludicrous on its face.
"America must not be overwhelmed.
"Every effort to enact immigrationlegislation must expect to meet a number of hostile forces and, in particular, two hostile forces of considerable strength.
"I encourage us all to think about the need to once again gain control of our own borders, reduce the number to a level that is the more traditional level of 175,000 to 200,000 a year legally coming into this country and then try our best to deal with the illegals who are coming at a rate of 1
"Overpopulation is a very serious problem, and overimmigration is a big part of it. We must address both. We can't ignore either."
-- David Brower, Sierra Club
"Members of the House, I was a cosponsor of this legislation (H.R.2202). I stood in a press conference alongside the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith] and said we have got to do something to reduce legal immigration and to reduce illegal immigration .
