Session #110 · 2007–09

Speech #1100200760

Senator SESSIONS. is trying to accomplish. But I think there is another view. That view in large part is expressed by the House of Representatives that sent over in a vote of 407 to 2 a much different and obviously very bipartisan approach toward Everify. It is one that does what Senator SESSIONS wants to do. which is extend the program for 5 years. But it also had some other critical protections. No. 1. the protection of the Social Security Administration programs. and in that vote of 407 to 2. realizing there are only 435 Members of the House of Representativesthat is how overwhelming it wasit. in fact. also made sure that funds would be provided for the Commissioner of Social Security by the Secretary of Homeland Security to administer this program. When it is costlessit is not costless to the taxpayers. and in reality it is not costless to the Social Security funds. The bottom line is these provisions that were passed by the House to extend the life of Everify 4 or 5 years also have a protection of the Social Security programs. It is one that I believe makes a lot of sense. It also had to ensure. if you are an American and you getI know Senator SESSIONS downplayed the percentage of people who get kicked outbut in fact if you are totally eligible to work but somehow through computer error are denied that ability in the first instance. now the burden shifts. The burden goes to an American citizen to prove. in fact. that they have a right to work in the first place. We might say it is only 5 percent. but 5 percent of millions of people in this country is a lot of people. So the House of Representatives passed in their proposals. in addition to extending Everify for 5 years and making sure that Social Security funds were held whole. they also passed provisions having a GAO study of this program and ensuring that. in fact. it was improved in a way so that we could understand the magnitude of those individuals who are totally U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents with the full right to work but who are being denied because of computer error. Those provisions which passed 407 to 2 are ones that I would like to see in an Everify extension.
Keywords matched
Everify

Classification

Target group
Sentiment
Neutral
Stereotyping
No
Confidence
100%
Model
gemini-2.0-flash
Framing
Legal / procedural

Speaker & context

Speaker
ROBERT MENENDEZ
Party
D
Chamber
S
State
NJ
Gender
M
Date
2008-09-23
Speech ID
1100200760
Paragraph
#0
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