Speech #1040191297

This portion of the bill should now be restored to the form it was in when It was approved by the Committee on the Judiciary. Employers should welcome this telephone verification system. since it would give them a simple. reliable way of determining who is legally authorized to work here and who is not. Right now they do not have a sound and dependable way to do that because we failed to provide any such method when Congress enacted employer sanctions as part of the Immigration Reform Control Act of 1986. Mr. Chairman. much is being said about the potential for governmental intrusiveness in hiring practices that would result from this new system. Nothing could be further from the truth. All this verification system does is to provide a way for us to finally enforce the existing 10yearold law against hiring illegal immigrants and for employers to be able to confirm that they are in fact obeying the law. The only people who will experience any negative effects are the people who should feel those effects. employers who are breaking the law by deliberately hiring illegal immigrants. and immigrants who are breaking the law by trying to get a job here when it is illegal for them to do so. Mr. Chairman.