Whereas the United States has always been a Nation of immigrants, and throughout the Nation’s history, immigrants and their children from around the globe have kept our workforce vibrant, our businesses on the cutting edge, and helped to build the greatest economic engine in the world; Whereas the entrepreneurial drive and spirit of the Nation is built on our diversity of origins; Whereas it is the American dream that first drew people to the United States and continues to drive business in the Nation; Whereas the success of the United States is a result of our many distinct experiences, not in spite of it; Whereas as a Nation of immigrants, we must remember the generations of pioneers that helped lay the railroads and build cities, develop new industries, and fuel innovation and the exchange of ideas; Whereas immigrants start more than a quarter of all new businesses in the United States, and immigrants and their children start over 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies; Whereas these businesses collectively employ tens of millions of Americans and generate more than $5.5 trillion in annual revenue; Whereas immigrants enhance the productive capacity of the United States economy and contribute roughly $2 trillion, or about 10 percent of annual GDP; Whereas the Nation’s immigrants contribute greatly to the advances in technology and sciences; Whereas 16 percent of all employed college graduates and 54.5 percent of Ph.D.s working in science, technology, engineering, and math fields are immigrants; Whereas, between 2006 and 2012, 44 percent of new tech startups in Silicon Valley, widely known as the international hub for technological development and innovation, had at least 1 immigrant founder; Whereas immigrants to the Nation plant, cultivate, and harvest the rich diversity of agriculture products available today from the United States farmlands; Whereas each immigrant farm employee supports 2 to 3 full-time jobs in processing, transportation, and retail