Speech #1090100528

Mr. Chairman. our Nation has long been a beacon for the dispossessed and downtrodden around the world who come to our shores for a shot at achieving financial security. personal security. and to fulfill their human potential. the very essence of the American dream. Our Nation was built on the sweat and ingenuity of immigrants. My fathers side emigrated from Italy. and my mothers side came from Ireland. We should be proud of this heritage. However. a nation that does not have control over its own borders is a nation that cannot claim to be sovereign. We need to know who is coming into our country. and we need to be able to keep out those who are not authorized to enter. The status quo. with 500.000 or more individuals entering the U.S. illegally every year. including untold numbers from countries of concem. meaning countries in which radical Islamic terrorists are prevalent. is not acceptable. Prior efforts by Congress to control and rationalize immigration. including the reforms enacted in 1986 and 1996. have failed. One of the primary reasons these reforms have failed to stop the flow of undocumented workers and the exploitation of immigrant labor is the lack of meaningful employer sanctions. I believe the crux of the legislation under consideration today. in addition to enhanced border security provisions. such as more agents. improved technology. and cracking down on document fraud. is that for the first time Congress is imposing tough employer sanctions. which will decrease the incentive to exploit immigrant labor. H.R. 4437 would double the tines for employers who hire undocumented workers to a minimum of $5.000 for a first offense and up to $40.000 for subsequent offenses. H.R. 4437 would also require employers to verify an applicanrts eligibility for lawful employment with immigration and Social Security officials. These enhanced employer verification provisions are one of the reasons why the powerful business lobbies like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. some of whose members regularly hire lowwage exploitable immigrant labor. are opposing the bill. but also one of the reasons why I support it. Many business and immigrant rights organizations. along with some in organized labor. have raised the concern that H.R. 4437 does not include guest worker provisions. I have serious reservations about the guest worker proposals that have been proposed by the President and in various bills in Congress. Very little has changed with respect to guest worker programs since I came to Congress.