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E-Verify gets two-year extension
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, June 12, 2009
By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Homeland security legislation that would extend a federal initiative to keep undocumented immigrants out of American jobs passed a key committee Friday, but only after Democrats shot down a measure offered by Inland Rep. Ken Calvert to make the program permanent.
The bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security in the coming fiscal year contains a two-year extension of E-Verify, an electronic employee verification system that allows companies to check the worker eligibility status of potential hires.
The mostly voluntary program, which was a cornerstone of the Bush administration, has been extended multiple times in recent years but is set to expire this fall. Calvert, R-Corona, has sought through a variety of legislative tactics to make the program permanent and mandatory for all U.S. employers.
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During a House Appropriations Committee hearing to consider the $42 billion Homeland Security bill Friday, he offered an amendment that would have removed the termination date for the program.
"After some consideration, I thought it was time to dispense with the back and forth and make the program permanent," he told other members of the panel. "Let's prove to the American people that we're serious about employment verification."
The amendment ran into opposition from Democrats, including the panel's chairman, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.
Obey said the Appropriations Committee, which is charged with overseeing government spending, has no business authorizing or extending programs at all. The Judiciary Committee, he said, should have oversight of E-Verify.
Obey said the amendment could stall the entire bill in the Senate, where members have asked that the extension be limited to two years.
"The very idea that we would have an open-ended, permanent authorization passed by this committee is patently ridiculous," Obey said. "How far do you think this bill is going to get if it's loaded up with authorizations?"
Democrats on the committee, who hold a solid majority, mostly voted against the amendment. It was defeated by a vote of 36-21. Soon after, a separate amendment to make E-Verify mandatory, offered by Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., was voted down 35-23.
Still, congressional Democrats and the Obama administration have expressed support for the program.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who as Arizona's governor signed a bill requiring employers to use E-Verify in the state, has said she favors the program's extension. President Barack Obama's budget request for the agency included a three-year extension of E-Verify.
To Calvert's dismay, Democrats lessened the extension in the bill to two years.
Rep. David Price, D-N.C., explained that the decision to limit the extension to two years was based on an acknowledgment that Congress would eventually take up the issue of comprehensive immigration reform.
"We all know employment verification is going to be one of the issues that is part of that larger debate," Price said, adding that the discussion would include the possibility of making E-Verify permanent and mandatory.
Obama administration officials have said they hope to take up immigration reform this year. But with a massive energy bill now before Congress and debate over a national health care overhaul under way, immigration appears likely to be pushed to next year at the earliest.\
The Homeland Security bill goes next to the House floor and, once passed, would need to be reconciled with a Senate version before it could be sent to Obama's desk.
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, June 12, 2009
By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Homeland security legislation that would extend a federal initiative to keep undocumented immigrants out of American jobs passed a key committee Friday, but only after Democrats shot down a measure offered by Inland Rep. Ken Calvert to make the program permanent.
The bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security in the coming fiscal year contains a two-year extension of E-Verify, an electronic employee verification system that allows companies to check the worker eligibility status of potential hires.
The mostly voluntary program, which was a cornerstone of the Bush administration, has been extended multiple times in recent years but is set to expire this fall. Calvert, R-Corona, has sought through a variety of legislative tactics to make the program permanent and mandatory for all U.S. employers.
Story continues below
During a House Appropriations Committee hearing to consider the $42 billion Homeland Security bill Friday, he offered an amendment that would have removed the termination date for the program.
"After some consideration, I thought it was time to dispense with the back and forth and make the program permanent," he told other members of the panel. "Let's prove to the American people that we're serious about employment verification."
The amendment ran into opposition from Democrats, including the panel's chairman, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.
Obey said the Appropriations Committee, which is charged with overseeing government spending, has no business authorizing or extending programs at all. The Judiciary Committee, he said, should have oversight of E-Verify.
Obey said the amendment could stall the entire bill in the Senate, where members have asked that the extension be limited to two years.
"The very idea that we would have an open-ended, permanent authorization passed by this committee is patently ridiculous," Obey said. "How far do you think this bill is going to get if it's loaded up with authorizations?"
Democrats on the committee, who hold a solid majority, mostly voted against the amendment. It was defeated by a vote of 36-21. Soon after, a separate amendment to make E-Verify mandatory, offered by Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., was voted down 35-23.
Still, congressional Democrats and the Obama administration have expressed support for the program.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who as Arizona's governor signed a bill requiring employers to use E-Verify in the state, has said she favors the program's extension. President Barack Obama's budget request for the agency included a three-year extension of E-Verify.
To Calvert's dismay, Democrats lessened the extension in the bill to two years.
Rep. David Price, D-N.C., explained that the decision to limit the extension to two years was based on an acknowledgment that Congress would eventually take up the issue of comprehensive immigration reform.
"We all know employment verification is going to be one of the issues that is part of that larger debate," Price said, adding that the discussion would include the possibility of making E-Verify permanent and mandatory.
Obama administration officials have said they hope to take up immigration reform this year. But with a massive energy bill now before Congress and debate over a national health care overhaul under way, immigration appears likely to be pushed to next year at the earliest.\
The Homeland Security bill goes next to the House floor and, once passed, would need to be reconciled with a Senate version before it could be sent to Obama's desk.