[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 173 (Thursday, November 8, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H13329-H13330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 3074, TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND 
    URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008

  Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1 of rule XXII and by 
direction of the Committee on Appropriations, I move to take from the 
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 3074) making appropriations for the 
Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and 
related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for 
other purposes, with a Senate amendment thereto, disagree to the Senate 
amendment, and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion.
  The motion was agreed to.

[[Page H13330]]

  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.


             Motion to Instruct Offered by Mr. Knollenberg

  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct conferees.
  The Clerk read as follows:

  Mr. Knollenberg moves that the managers on the part of the House at 
the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the bill, 
H.R. 3074, be instructed to insist on section 416 and section 417 of 
the House-passed bill.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XXII, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg) and the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Olver) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, my motion is very straightforward. It simply instructs 
the managers on the part of the House to insist that two important 
provisions included in the House bill be included in the conference 
report. The first provision, House section 416, prohibits funds in the 
bill from being used to provide housing assistance to illegal or 
otherwise unauthorized immigrants. This provision was offered as an 
amendment on the House floor and adopted unanimously. The second 
provision, House section 417, prohibits any funds in the bill from 
being used to hire illegal aliens. This, too, was an amendment adopted 
unanimously when the House considered the bill.
  The House has clearly spoken on this matter, and I think it is 
important the conferees uphold the will of the House. I urge the 
adoption of the motion.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. OLVER. I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his motion.
  Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman from Michigan has already said, the 
provisions that are in the legislation on the House side, section 416 
and 417, are two provisions that relate to illegal immigration. The 
first of those provisions is one which states that no funds in this act 
can be used to provide homeownership assistance for illegal immigrants. 
The second, section 417, says that no funds may be used to employ 
workers who are illegal immigrants.
  The first of these sections applies to the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, the second one applies to the Department of 
Transportation and relates to people who might otherwise be employed in 
construction under the Department of Transportation.
  As the gentleman from Michigan has pointed out, those were adopted 
unanimously by voice vote here in the House during the passage of this 
legislation. So they are before the conference and, because they were 
adopted earlier, I am willing to adopt them now and adopt the motion as 
is.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Bilbray).
  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I want to say I appreciate the bipartisan 
support for the concept that people should not be rewarded for breaking 
our immigration laws. I appreciate the ranking member and the chairman 
agreeing on this.
  I would just ask both of you to take a look at the leadership that 
the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Shuler) has made with a piece of 
legislation that I feel should be the enforcement part of this 
direction, and that is that the e-verification be used before people 
benefit from public funds. That is a very simple system to allow anyone 
to check that Social Security numbers and names match. It's not an 
onerous check system to use, and it is one that many of us are looking 
forward to not only Federal Government but all employers using in the 
future.
  I just ask that you consider the fact that to fulfill the intent of 
this motion, that the e-verification specifically try to be considered 
here as the vehicle that before anyone gets these benefits that we 
check that they are legally here as verified by the e-verification.
  If anybody has any questions about that, I am sure Congressman Shuler 
can brief you extensively on it. But it is sort of the consensus of 
most of us working on these issues that this is a simple, clear way to 
allow everyone, including those who are providing public benefit, the 
assurance that those benefits are not going to somebody who's not 
qualified to be able to provide it.
  So I would raise that as a discussion, that the e-verification be 
used to verify this motion.
  Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the comments by the 
gentleman from California, but just point out that that is a very 
complicated issue, not a part of the conference that we are involved 
in, and will take a bit more time, probably more than we can resolve 
today.
  I am ready to yield back if the gentleman from Michigan has no other 
speakers.
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that 
a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is 
not present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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