[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 19, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H2464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              DETERMINING WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO WORK LEGALLY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California [Mrs. Seastrand] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. SEASTRAND. Mr. Speaker, few current events affect our Nation so 
dramatically as does the recordbreaking number of illegal aliens 
entering our country year after year. Illegal immigration is a national 
crisis. Although my State of California bears the brunt of this 
problem, illegal immigration is a national dilemma. It affects every 
hard-working, taxpaying citizen of our country.
  Tomorrow, with several of my colleagues, I am going to be offering an 
amendment to the immigration bill, H.R. 2202. Our amendment would call 
for a mandatory pilot program in five of the seven States most impacted 
by illegal immigration. It would require that employers call a 1-800 
number to check the eligibility to work of a newly hired employee. This 
amendment simply puts back into the bill the original language that was 
passed by the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  The requirement that illegal aliens be verified for work eligibility 
is crucial to true immigration reform. Contrary to much misinformation, 
this amendment does not, and I repeat, does not, establish a national 
ID card or even a system by which a worker can be tracked throughout 
their career. In fact, this amendment does none of the following:
  It does not require any new data to be supplied by the employee.
  It does not require any new personal information of the employee.
  It does not create a new Government data base.
  It cannot be expanded into a national program without a specific vote 
by Congress.
  Now those of you that know me and have followed my voting record are 
well aware that I am very much opposed to any more Government intrusion 
into our lives. I have stated time and time again that I am opposed to 
any sort of tracking system or national ID card, and I firmly hold 
these beliefs.
  This amendment would simply use information that is already required 
by the Social Security Administration. The opportunity to work in the 
United States has acted like a magnet, drawing hundreds and thousands 
to this country. Unfortunately, many of those who have come to this 
country seeking employment have skirted our legal immigration system 
and have made a mockery of our current laws.

  This amendment is about jobs, American jobs. Those that come to this 
country illegally should not be granted the opportunity to take the 
jobs of American workers, and recent studies demonstrate that illegal 
aliens often take jobs that could otherwise be filled by American 
workers. Our amendment allows an easy, reliable enforcement mechanism 
for verifying worker eligibility.
  Now for the past decade employers have been prohibited from knowingly 
hiring illegal aliens. To verify new hires, current law requires 
employers to check the identity and work eligibility documents of all 
new employees. The system, the current one for verifying worker 
eligibility, has been a complete failure. Not only has the current 
system failed to discourage legal aliens from seeking jobs in America, 
but it also has turned employers into de facto INS agents, and without 
the means to effectively determine a worker's eligibility, employers 
have had to face a double-edged sword. If they hire an illegal alien to 
work for them, well, employers are faced with civil penalties imposed 
by the Federal Government. If they question a prospective employee 
about their eligibility, employers face the possibility of a lawsuit 
charging discrimination.
  Further adding to this dilemma, the easy availability of counterfeit 
documents has made verification of authentic documents a joke. In 
southern California alone, Federal agencies, 2.5 million fraudulent 
documents from 1989 to 1992.
  Now the amendment we are offering will correct this problem. 
Employers would simply make a toll free inquiry through telephones or 
electronic means to match new employee's names, Social Security and 
alien identification numbers against existing Social Security 
Administration and INS data. This type of verification would be easy, 
effective since employers would already have to check for every new 
employee that they hire. Employers would not be tempted to hire only 
those who look for sound American. In addition, this type of 
verification would take the onus off the employer to determine who is 
eligible to work legally.
  Now I have talked to business men and women and constituents of my 
district, and there is overwhelming support for this amendment. It is 
an effective tool. In fact, in southern California there has been a 
program that has been tested over the past year by 220 employers with 
more than 88,000 workers.

                              {time}  2300

  In more than 25 separate verifications, 99.9 percent were 
satisfactorily resolved within a 5- to 10-day period. So, because of 
this, I just would urge my colleagues to look at this amendment, and I 
hope that they will support this amendment tomorrow.

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