OpenGov - Open Government Brainstorm

And serious jail time for the people who sponsor and hire them, right?

I think you left that part out.

i agree that illegal immigration is a problem and so many companies continue to employ people who come illegally. but if you looked at some of the jobs they do for the pay that they get- there might be a lot of legal people unwilling to take those jobs.

Federation for American Immigration Reform

Earlier Today, House Appropriators Rejected E-Verify Amendments; Reps. Price,

Obey, and Wasserman-Schultz Spoke Against These Provisions

Earlier this morning, the House Appropriations Committee met to write

the annual Homeland Security spending bill and the annual bill that

funds Congress for the coming year. At the "mark-up," the

Committee rejected two E-Verify related amendments to the Homeland

Security bill and another related to the Legislative Branch spending

bill. E-Verify is an electronically operated system that ensures

American jobs go to American workers by allowing employers to quickly

check the work authorization status of their new hires.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) -- a true immigration reformer --

offered an amendment to the Homeland Security bill to extend

E-Verify. While that bill already contains a short, two-year

reauthorization of E-Verify, Congressman Calvert knows the true value

of the program and sought a longer extension of E-Verify. After

Calvert spoke in support of his amendment, Appropriations Homeland

Security Subcommittee Chairman, Rep. David Price (D-NC), spoke against the

amendment. Rep. Price urged the entire Committee to vote

against the amendment. Then, the Committee Chairman, Rep. David

Obey (D-WI), spoke against the amendment, as well. Obey argued

that the Homeland Security spending bill shouldn't contain an E-Verify

authorization at all!

Immediately following the rejection of the Calvert Amendment, another

true immigration reformer -- Representative Jack Kingston (R-GA)

-- offered an amendment to the Homeland Security bill to require

companies who contract with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to use

E-Verify. This common sense amendment would have ensured that contractors who

do business with DHS -- the same agency

tasked with enforcing our immigration laws -- do not hire illegal

aliens. Congressman Price AGAIN spoke in opposition to the

Kingston amendment, erroneously claiming that E-Verify is inaccurate

and that the program would be unable to handle the expansion to DHS

contractors. Even though Congressman Kingston pointed out that

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano stated last month that the program

could indeed handle a large-scale expansion, and that the program has

an incredible accuracy rate of 99.6%, the House Appropriations

Committee still rejected the amendment!

Later in the morning, Congressman Kingston attempted to attach a

similar E-Verify amendment to the Legislative Branch spending

bill. This provision would have required contractors who do

business with the U.S. Congress to use E-Verify. This time,

Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee Chairwoman Debbie

Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) urged the Committee to reject the Kingston

Amendment.

In speaking out against these amendments, Reps. Price, Obey, and

Wasserman-Schultz effectively urged their colleagues to not only put

the E-Verify program in jeopardy, but also ensure that illegal aliens

can continue to work on federal contracts with DHS and the U.S.

Congress!

We need you to call the following Members of Congress who spoke

against E-Verify TODAY:

Rep. David Price: (202) 225-1784

Rep. David Obey: (202) 225-3365

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz: (202) 225-7931

Tell these Members that they need to get their facts straight.

Tell them:

* 14.5 million Americans are out of work and millions more are

underemployed.

* Americans, not illegal aliens, should be hired for any available

jobs.

* E-Verify is highly effective, and it works to protect American

jobs!!!

* Congress needs to start standing up for American workers, and

not special interests!!

Also, please call Rep. Calvert and Rep. Kingston, and thank them for

standing up on behalf of American Workers!

Rep. Ken Calvert: (202) 225-1986

Rep. Jack Kingston: (202) 225-5831