Speech #1040190458

I rise in strong support of amendment No. 11 to H.R. 2202. included In the en bloc amendment currently under consideration. The amendment is straightforward. it strengthens enforcement of employer sanctions. Despite the rhetoric on the issue. border enforcement will not solve the illegal immigration problem. The lure of high wages and plentiful job opportunities attracts thousands of Illegal immigrants each year. If illegal workers could not secure employment. they would go home and fewer unauthorized aliens would attempt to enter the United States illegally. We must reduce the job magnet. We can do this by deterring employers who hire Illegal immigrants in order to obtain an unfair competitive advantage over lawabiding employers. Those employers who do not abide by the law. pay lower wages. given no benefits. pay no taxes. and thereby. suppress wages and working conditions for our countrys legal workers. In 1986. Congress. enacted the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) prohibiting the employment of unauthorized aliens. Although the intent of Congress was clear. the INS admits. "this law was not properly enforced. except immediately after passage of the Act. because the Federal Government until recently lacked the resources ... [and] has not made employer sanctions a sufficiently high priority." The President should be commended for his efforts in this area. Not only has worksite enforcement become a high priority of his Administration. on February 13. 1996. the President issued an Executive Order. stating that "in procuring goods .... contracting agencies should not contract with employers that have not compiled with section 274A of the IRCA . . . prohibiting the unlawful employment of aliens." Amendment No. 11 to H.R. 2202 would ensure that section 274A of the IRAC. and the Executive Order. can be enforced properly. The amendment states that worksite enforcement should be a high priority for the Immigration and naturalization Service. In addition. it requires the Attorney General to report to Congress whether there are any additional authorities or resources needed to enforce: the Immigration Reform and Control Acts employer sanctions. the Presidential Executive Order which states that employers who hire illegal Immigrants are denied Federal contracts. and an expansion of the Executive Order so that employers who hire illegal immigrants are denied all federally subsidized assistance programs. I urge my colleagues to support the en bloc amendment so that sanctions become a reality for those employers who break the law.