Google – AFP, 11 April 2013
WASHINGTON
— Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new political action group he is
spearheading Thursday to press for reforms in areas including immigration and
education.
"To
lead the world in this new economy, we need the most talented and
hardest-working people. We need to train and attract the best. We need those
middle-school students to be tomorrow's leaders," Zuckerberg said in an
opinion piece published in the Washington Post.
The group
called FWD.us was created amid an intense debate on Congress on immigration,
with lawmakers considering a "path to citizenship" for some 11
million undocumented immigrants, as well as measures to boost the number of
immigrants with high-tech skills.
Zuckerberg
said he supports a measure which accomplishes both those goals.
"Comprehensive
immigration reform that begins with effective border security, allows a path to
citizenship and lets us attract the most talented and hardest-working people,
no matter where they were born," he wrote.
The new
group's founders include others from the tech sector, including LinkedIn
founder Reid Hoffman, Dropbox chief Drew Houston and John Doerr, from the
venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Contributors
include Google chairman Eric Schmidt, Yahoo! chief Marissa Mayer, Tesla and
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Brian Chesky, chief executive of Airbnb, and Reed
Hastings, CEO of Netflix.
Zuckerberg
said the tech sector understands the needs of an economic adapting to new
information technology.
"As
leaders of an industry that has benefited from this economic shift, we believe
that we have a responsibility to work together to ensure that all members of
our society gain from the rewards of the modern knowledge economy," he
wrote.
He said the
group will urge "comprehensive immigration reform that begins with
effective border security, allows a path to citizenship and lets us attract the
most talented and hardest-working people, no matter where they were born."
Additionally,
it will seek "higher standards and accountability in schools, support for
good teachers and a much greater focus on learning about science, technology,
engineering and math."
Thirdly, he
said the group will press for "investment in breakthrough discoveries in
scientific research and assurance that the benefits of the inventions belong to
the public and not just to the few."
The
president of the group will be Joe Green, a longtime Zuckerberg friend who
founded the group Causes.com. FWD.us will have offices in Silicon Valley and
Washington.
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