[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 102 (Thursday, July 9, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H7841]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                LET'S FIX OUR BROKEN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM

  (Mr. POLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POLIS. Yesterday, the Senate voted to extend the border wall 
between the U.S. and Mexico and to expand E-Verify, making this flawed 
employment verification system both mandatory and permanent for Federal 
contractors.
  The American people don't want to see political posturing; they want 
to see real, meaningful immigration reform. These provisions attempt to 
enforce immigration laws without getting to the heart of the issue. 
Building a bigger wall at the U.S.-Mexico border is going to spend 
millions of taxpayer dollars and will not stop illegal immigration; 
reforming our immigration system will.
  Forcing Federal contractors to implement a costly employment 
verification program isn't going to stop illegal immigration. Instead, 
a mandatory E-Verify clause would force cash-strapped small businesses 
to make the painful decisions between losing government contracts and 
spending millions of dollars on a flawed and expensive employment 
verification system.
  It's not that we shouldn't talk about border security or employment 
verification. We must. These are conversations we need to have as part 
of a larger debate on comprehensive immigration reform, not as 
amendments to an appropriations bill. Instead of trying to act tough, 
Members of Congress should be tough and fix our broken immigration 
system.

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