KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As Congress and President Obama wrangle over the budget, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is trying to jump-start economic growth. Kauffman, a research and philanthropic foundation devoted to entrepreneurship and innovation, is trying to improve U.S. immigration policy to create new companies and help existing ones.

Startups lead to innovation, which leads to economic growth. If we had another two dozen new Apples or Facebooks every year, our economic growth and our employment would take off.