[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 92 (Thursday, June 5, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5214-S5215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRASSLEY:
  S. 3093. A bill to extend and improve the effectiveness of the 
employment eligibility confirmation program; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today, I am introducing legislation to 
reauthorize and expand the E-verify program, a web based tool run by 
the Department of Homeland Security for employers across the country. 
Known as the Basic Pilot Program since its inception in 1996, E-verify 
provides employers with a process to verify the work eligibility of new 
hires. This program is set to expire in November of this year.
  The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 made it unlawful for 
employers to knowingly hire or employ aliens not eligible to work in 
the United States and required employers to examine the identity and 
work eligibility documents of all new employees.
  Employers are required to participate in a paper-based employment 
eligibility verification system, commonly referred to as the I-9 
system, in which they examine documents presented by new hires to 
verify identity and work eligibility, and complete and retain I-9 
verification forms. Under current law, if the documents provided by an 
employee reasonably appear on their face to be genuine, the employer 
has met its document review obligation. However, the easy availability 
of counterfeit documents and fake identifications has made a mockery of 
the law.
  In 1996, Congress authorized the Basic Pilot Program to help 
employers verify the eligibility of their workers. Participants in this 
program electronically verify new hires' employment authorization 
through the Social Security Administration and, if necessary, the 
Department of Homeland Security databases.
  The Basic Pilot was authorized in 5 States until an expansion of the 
program was agreed to by Congress in 2003. Now, all States and all 
employers can take advantage of this voluntary and free program.
  The bill I am introducing today isn't broad expansion of the current 
program, which I would like to see done. I attempted to revamp E-verify 
in 2006 and 2007 when the Senate debated a comprehensive immigration 
bill. During those debates, I offered amendments to require all 
businesses to use E-verify rather than maintaining it as a voluntary 
system. Over time, I would like to see this tool as a staple in the 
workforce. My legislation today doesn't go that far.
  My amendment in 2006 and 2007 also would have changed the 
verification and appeal procedures, and would have improved the ability 
of the Federal Government to go after employers who knowingly hire 
illegal aliens.
  While I hope that the Congress can one day address these issues, my 
priority this year is the reauthorization of the E-verify program. We 
must not let it expire. Employers rely on it, and we must not pull the 
rug from under them in their attempt to abide by the law.
  My legislation would extend the program indefinitely. There's no 
reason that we should allow this to expire in 1, 5 or 10 years. It 
should only expire when Congress feels the need to terminate it. Right 
now, over 61,000 employers use the program. That number is likely to 
grow, and they need to be able to know that Congress isn't going to let 
this program die.
  Another provision in my bill would require all contractors of the 
U.S. Government to use E-verify, even though they have the authority to 
do so today. Under the original statute in 1996, the Federal 
Government--including the Executive and Legislative Branches--must 
comply with the terms and conditions of E-verify. I added this 
provision because I don't like the progress I am seeing from the 
administration to require contractors to use the program.
  In August of this year, Secretary Chertoff announced a series of 
reforms to address border security and immigration challenges that our 
country faces. One of the 26 proposed reforms was to require Federal 
contractors to use the basic pilot program.
  Specifically, Secretary Chertoff said that ``the Administration will 
commence a rulemaking process to require all federal contractors and 
vendors to use E-Verify, the federal electronic employment verification 
system, to ensure that their employees are authorized to work in the 
United States.'' I firmly believe that the Federal Government ought to 
lead by example, and they shouldn't wait for my bill to become law.
  My bill would also allow employers to check the status of all 
employees, not just new hires. Since the system is voluntary, 
businesses should be able to use E-verify to check the work eligibility 
of all their employees. They would alert the Department of Homeland 
Security of their desire to check all employees and be required to do 
the checks not later than 10 days after. If an employer wants to make 
sure his or her labor force is lawful, or legally allowed to work in 
the United States, he or she should be afforded that right. Also, the 
Department of Homeland Security should be able to require repeat 
offenders of immigration law to check the status of all employees, not 
just

[[Page S5215]]

new hires. My legislation would require certain employers to use E-
verify if the Security has reasonable cause to believe that the 
employer has engaged in the hiring of undocumented workers. This 
provision will help us hold employers accountable.
  My bill would require more information sharing between the agencies 
at the Department of Homeland Security. Citizenship and Immigration 
Service, the agency in charge of service and benefits for immigrants, 
runs the program. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has the 
duty to enforce immigration laws and conduct worksite enforcement. I 
fear that the two agencies don't communicate enough, especially when it 
comes to this program. While CIS will provide ICE information about 
employers who use E-verify upon request, this should be an automatic 
process. The enforcement agency is better equipped to go after those 
who hire illegal aliens, and they should have access to such 
information, including those businesses that receive final non-
confirmations through the system. My bill would require CIS to report 
monthly to ICE.
  Finally, as a Senator from a State with many rural communities, I 
have heard small businesses say they want a system that works and is 
easy to use. Many towns in Iowa and across the country want to be able 
to use E-verify but may not have access to computers or the Internet. 
The Citizenship and Immigration Service has made strides to help 
businesses learn the system and accommodate their lack of access. As we 
continue to ramp up the program and potentially make it a requirement 
for all employers, I would like to see the Federal Government reach out 
to rural areas and figure out a way to make this work. My bill would 
authorize the Director of U.S. CIS to establish a demonstration program 
that assists small businesses in verifying the employment eligibility 
of their newly hired employees.
  In conclusion, I cannot stress enough the importance of making sure 
E-verify remains intact and operating for employers across the country. 
We need to reauthorize the program this year so that businesses can 
continue to abide by our immigration laws. I urge my colleagues to join 
me in this effort.
                                 ______