Speech #1100200754

There Is not a Democrat here. I am not trying to pull a fast one on anybody. I understand there is an objection to the bipartisan agreement called the Legal Immigration Extension Act of 2008 by one. perhaps. Senator. I want to share some thoughts about that and how we got where we are today. There are four pieces of legislation that are expiring or are about to expire. After a good bit of work in the Senate Judiciary Committee. we reached an accord that we would not offer any changes in immigration law before we try to recess this year. A lot of us have some real firm views about some things that need to be done. but everybody has basically agreed not to push that. But it is important that a number of things get passed. The most important thing that needs to be passedand it would be unthinkable were it not to passwould be the extension of the Everify program. It is a voluntary Webbased system operated by the Department of Homeland Security. in partnership with the Social Security Administration. It allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of people they would hire. to see if they are presenting a legitimate Social Security number. More than 84.000 employers voluntarily participate in Everify and we would getget thisa thousand new enrollments by employers each week. It is growing in popularity. Because it was a limited program. it is set to expire in November of this year. So the agreedupon legislation would be to extend the program for 5 years. I note that this program. under the KennedyMcCain bill. and the subsequent comprehensive bill that was offered on the floor. which was voted down. would have made Everify mandatory on all employers. This does not do that. This just keeps it as it is. Presumably. we are going to have to have a real serious talk about what to do next year. Also in the package I just mentioned would be an extension of the ED5 regional center program. This is a program that says if someone comes to Americaand it has been in effect since 1990and they are willing to invest $1 million in hiring at least 10 Americans. they would be able to get a visa. That program is set to expire. and we have agreed that it would continue for 5 yearsnot be permanent. but it would be extended for 5 years. It is an additional group of people on top of the 1 million or so we allow in the country every year. It is an additional group on top of that. Then there is Senator CONRADs 30 J1 visa program. Senator CONRAD. in 1994. passed a provision that would allow foreign medical graduates to waive the mandatory return to their foreign residence. and if they were going to practice in a State for 3 years before they return to their home country. they could stay here. Many States have found that to be an advantage.