Speech #1040191040

Mr. Chairman. this is a simple amendment that I believe fits with the philosophy of this Congress and of the American people. It certainly fits with the intent of H.R. 2202. which is to reform this countrys immigration policy in the national interest. and I stress. in the national interest. This amendment would do two things. First. it would require medical facilities to provide the INS with identifying information about illegal aliens who have received free emergency medical treatment from that medical facility which seeks reimbursement from the Federal Government. Second. it would waive this requirement in cases if the patient is a child under the age of 18 years old. Currently. Mr. Chairman. this bill allows public medical facilities to seek to obtain Federal reimbursement for the cost of providing emergency medical services to illegal aliens. The bill also requires medical facilities to confirm the patients identity and immigration status with the INS as a condition of reimbursement. Now. Mr. Chairman. we want to get around the argument right now that we are asking hospitals and medical providers to serve as policemen. Already they are required to obtain the patients identity and immigration status in connection with the furnishing of this medical treatment. My amendment simply takes the next step. It would require the medical facility. as a condition to obtaining Federal reimbursement from taxpayer dollars that we are pay in this country. it requires this medical facility to provide the INS with this information it already has. again. identifying information. such as the name. address. and employer of this person. Hopefully. this information will allow the INS to then come out and find that illegal alien and send that person out of the country. Again. Mr. Chairman. this requirement would be waived if the patient. the illegal alien. is under the age of 18 years old. Also. Mr. Chairman. the requirement of information disclosure would only apply when the medical facility is actually seeking to obtain Federal reimbursement. again. from taxpayer dollars. This amendment is intended to ensure that the INS. receives the name. address. last known employer. and any sort of information that might be available on the illegal aliens. This information would certainly help them to locate these illegal aliens and enforce our immigration laws. Let me state what this amendment does not do. It would not impose any additional paperwork burden on the hospitals or other medical providers. This information is already gathered. probably upon the patientsadmittance. and certainly when the medical provider is ready to fulfill the bills requirement of confirming the individuals immigration status when they seek to obtain Federal reimbursement from taxpayers dollars. Further. this amendment would not pose any threat to the quality of medical care the illegal alien receives. This information disclosed is simply identifying information and not medical records. Mr. Chairman. I believe the Federal Government should get something in return for its payment of taxpayer dollars. That something in this case is information that may help in the enforcement of our laws against illegal immigration. Half of H.R. 2202 deals with cracking down on illegal immigrants. Opponents may argue that requiring disclosure of the patients identity and location would deter illegal aliens from seeking medical care for fear of getting caught. I understand how a minor child of an illegal alien would be caught up in the middle of this situation and. therefore. my amendment does waive or exempt this disclosure requirement when the patient is under the age of 18. However. when the injured person is an adult. he or she is fully responsible for their presence in this country. They are aware that they are here illegally. and they assume the risk all the time they are in this country of getting caught. Mr. Chairman. this argument with respect to adult illegals. that they would not seek needed medical care. certainly does not hold water. Illegal aliens need goods and services which they buy at public places where they could be caught. yet they go out and buy these. They often come into this country for Jobs and use fraudulent documents to obtain jobs. and they take the risk of getting caught there. Mr. Chairman. this amendment and this issue are not about a denial of medical care to illegal aliens. The bill already specifies that they may receive emergency medical services and public health immunizations. though the bill makes the illegal aliens ineligible for public assistance. contracts. and licenses. We would never deny emergency medical care to another human being. even to a lawbreaker. but that is a separate issue. The issue here is that an illegal alien. healthy. sick. or injured. is still an illegal alien. Anyone present in the United States illegally is a lawbreaker. and should expect to suffer the consequences if caught. Mr. Chairman. an illegal alien assumes the risk of getting caught. If he is injured while here. it is merely incident to his unlawful immigration status. Still. I think the national interest now. the national interest. is best served by helping the INS do a better job of catching these people who may be illegally in the country. to enforce our Nations immigration laws. Certainly. hospitals would report an escaped criminal who came into the emergency room for treatment. We would expect a citizen to report a robbery in progress. and to tell the policeman the direction the robber ran and give a description of him. We call this civic duty. Why would we not require such identifying information to be disclosed from an illegal alien when a facility is seeking reimbursement for having treated him from the Federal Government. from all our taxpayers in this country? Is that too much to ask of one who will receive Federal dollars? Surely the medical provider has an obligation to cooperate with the Federal Government if seeking these Federal dollars.