Speech #1140013435

From a policy perspective. this rule made a lot of sense to me and many of my colleagues. as it passed both the House and the Senate with broad support. Obviously. if the object of the earned income tax credit is to encourage work. it makes no sense to provide such an incentive to those who are not legally allowed to work. Why would we want to encourage individuals to break our immigration laws? What Congress didnt know at the time was that at an unknown future date. a President. with the stroke of a pen. would essentially grant millions of undocumented workers amnesty. Under the Presidents action. those previously working illegally in the United States will be eligible for work authorization and a Social Security number. Based on an IRS interpretation of the earned income tax credit eligibility requirements. those who obtain a Social Security number will be eligible to claim the earned income tax credit not only for future years but for previous years while they were living and working in the United States undocumented. Based on the statute of limitations. those obtaining deferred action could then go back and amend or file returns for up to 3 previous tax years to take advantage of a credit that can be worth several thousands of dollars each year. The legislation I am introducing today with Senator ENZI will fix this loophole by making it clear that those granted deferred action are not eligible to claim the earned income tax credit for the years they worked in the United States as undocumented workers. This proposal is simply an extension of current policy. Those granted deferred action will still be able to claim the earned income tax credit in years going forward for work they perform legally. This proposal reflects the commonsense proposition that American taxpayers should not subsidize work they performed illegally in the United States. This bill should be a nobrainer for any of my colleagues who agree that we should not reward individuals for breaking our immigration laws and our employment laws. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this commonsense piece of legislation. By Mr.