[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 56 (Tuesday, May 3, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H2747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS CONFERENCE REPORT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow in the Committee on Rules and on 
Thursday on the House floor under the able leadership of the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Lewis), chairman of the Committee on 
Appropriations, we will be considering and voting with, I am sure, 
strong bipartisan support, we will be voting out the conference report 
on the supplemental appropriations bill focused on providing very 
important assistance to our effort in Iraq, the men and women there, 
and also aid to the victims of the tragic tsunami that we saw take 
place last year.
  We also are very pleased that included in that legislation is an item 
which the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) made a commitment to 
last fall that would be there when we were working on implementations 
of the recommendations from the 9/11 Commission, the intelligence 
conference report.
  To refresh the memories of our colleagues, there were many of us, 
Republican conferees on the House side especially, who were pushing to 
include very important border security provisions.

                              {time}  1245

  Unfortunately, our colleagues in the other body refused to include 
those. We went ahead and passed out, again with strong bipartisan 
support, the legislation that implemented the recommendations of the 9/
11 Commission, including the establishment of a new Director of 
National Intelligence and very important measures to increase the size 
of our border patrol as well as other important items dealing with the 
issue of intelligence. We were unable, because, as I said, our 
colleagues in the other body would not include it, to have the border 
security issues which we are going to be including in this supplemental 
appropriation bill. Again, Speaker Hastert made a very good commitment 
that we would have it on the first must-pass piece of legislation.
  Those provisions, Mr. Speaker, are very, very important. They are 
designed to ensure that driver's licenses do not get into the hands of 
people who are here illegally. It also is designed to complete the 3\1/
2\-mile gap in the border fence which exists along the border between 
Mexico and the United States, between San Diego and Tijuana. We, I 
believe, are going to be much better off with these items that are 
included.
  But as we move beyond this issue, it is important for us to also 
focus on other priorities that we have legislatively to deal with the 
border security issue. Next week we are scheduled to have a hearing in 
the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration on H.R. 98, a 
measure which enjoys bipartisan support. I am proud that the lead 
cosponsor of the legislation is the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), 
former chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, and we have support from a wide 
range of Members.
  H.R. 98, Mr. Speaker, establishes a counterfeit-proof Social Security 
card. We know that there are employers out there who are required under 
the employer sanctions provisions of the 1986 Immigration Reform and 
Control Act to ask for documents when they are hiring people, a birth 
certificate, driver's licenses, other things. The existence of a 
counterfeit-proof Social Security card will make it easier for the 
employer with a card like this, and they will simply take and swipe 
this card or call a toll-free number and be able to determine whether 
or not someone is an American citizen, here on a work permit or what 
their status is. If they do not have this card, they will not be able 
to get a job; and if employers hire them, we have increased by 400 
percent the penalty for those employers and we call for the 
establishment in H.R. 98 of 10,000 enforcement agents who will make 
sure that employers are actually complying with the law and not hiring 
people here illegally.
  The bill is called H.R. 98, Mr. Speaker, because according to T.J. 
Bonner, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, it will 
reduce by 98 percent the number of illegal border crossings. So we 
believe very strongly that implementation of a national counterfeit-
proof Social Security card, which is not a national identification 
card, only required for people who are looking for a new job, is one of 
the most important ways that we can deal with our very, very important 
border security issue.
  We look forward to the passage of the supplemental appropriations 
bill here on the floor on Thursday. We also look forward to what we 
hope to be very, very growing support for passage of H.R. 98.

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