Facebook’s Zuckerberg Heads To DC To Talk Immigration Reform, Economy And Internet Access

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be on Capitol Hill for a couple of days this week, meeting with top Senate and House leaders to lobby for several issues, including immigration reform.

The 29-year-old billionaire’s visit is expected to be a bipartisan affair. He is scheduled to meet with the House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. In the Senate, Zuckerberg will be talking with Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

A Facebook source said Wednesday that along with the 2013 immigration reform bill, Zuckerberg’s agenda consists of talking up the "knowledge economy" and his own mission to provide the world with Internet access.

Lobbying for immigration reform, Zuckerberg wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in April, noting that today’s economy is primarily based on knowledge and ideas. The most important resources in such an economy, Zuckerberg continued, are the people educated in the U.S. and attracted to the opportunities in America.

“A knowledge economy can scale further, create better jobs and provide a higher quality of living for everyone in our nation,” the article read. “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.”

When asked about the prospects of comprehensive immigration reform at a recent TechCrunch event, Zuckerberg said he’s an optimist.

“A lot of people really want to do the right thing,” he said. “It’s not my job to get it done. It’s my job to kind of help provide support for the people who are going to do it.”