Darren Dahl

Bush Official: "We'd Be Idiots" to Turn Inward

Despite discord within the GOP, the Bush administration continues to support loose immigration and trade rules.

 

Fighting a revival of nativist politics in the Republican party, the Bush administration continues to espouse economic policies that embrace globalization. This stance was reiterated in September when Deputy Commerce Secretary David A. Sampson, a Bush political appointee and the No. 2 man at the department, spoke at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia, a biotech incubator.

Sampson was on hand to present $2.25 million in federal funding to the center. The money will be used to create a beachhead of sorts for international life sciences and technology companies looking to enter the U.S. market. In an interview with Inc., Sampson stressed the importance of strong links between U.S. and international companies in entrepreneurial fields, including energy, life sciences, and security businesses. More controversially, Sampson said that a steady flow of immigrant workers was vital to the health of the economy. "We'd be idiots if we cut ourselves off from the rest of the world," Sampson said. "It would be like shooting ourselves in the foot."