Basic Pilot Program Extension and Expansion Act of 2003

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The consideration of S. 1685 is a positive step toward resolving a concern that many Americans have as relates to ensuring the complete and accurate employment of those who are able and should be employed in a legal manner. The basic pilot is a temporary, voluntary program for electronically verifying the employment authorization of newly-hired employees. The bill, S. 1685, would extend the program for another 5 years.

The objective of employment verification is to ensure that American employers hire workers who are authorized to work in the United States. Under the basic pilot, the employer examines the documents of a newly- hired employee and then transmits the pertinent information electronically to an office of the Social Security Administration. The SSA office compares the information with its records. In the case of a foreign worker, the SSA office will pass the information on to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The BCIS compares the alien's employment data with immigration records to determine whether he or she is authorized to work in the United States. If BCIS confirms that the alien employee is authorized to work in the United States, it issues a confirmation number. If BCIS determines instead that the new employee is not authorized for employment in the United States, it issues a tentative nonconfirmation number. Procedures are

available to permit either the employer or the employee to contest a tentative nonconfirmation before it becomes final, at least allowing procedures of due process so that those who would insist that they are allowed to work here would have the opportunity to protest any denial and to be able to provide information to prove that they can work here in the United States.

The basic pilot is an effective employee verification program that makes it easier and safer for employers to hire foreign workers which makes it easier for lawful foreign workers to find employment.

Section 405 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 required the Attorney General to submit a report on the basic pilot to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. The report was done by the Institute for Survey Research at Temple University. The Institute identified a substantial number of implementation problems. It concluded, among other things, that the basic pilot was a good program, but that it was not ready yet for larger-scale implementation. Consequently, I have concerns about a provision in S. 1685 which would expand the pilot program from its present size of being available in only six States to being available in all 50 States.

S. 1685 has a provision, however, which I believe addresses the problems that the Institute identified. This provision would require the Secretary of Homeland Security, prior to expanding the program, to submit a report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees stating, one, the extent to which these problems have been resolved; and, two, describing what additional actions will be taken before expanding the program. This is a helpful addition, if you will, that counters the overexpansion to 50 States, which I believe we are not yet prepared for in terms of manpower hours at Homeland Security and, as well, technology to be able to address the overload that will occur. But it is an important issue to ensure that employers are, in fact, complying with the law and hiring those appropriately able to work in the United States.

S. 1685 also would extend the duration of an immigrant investor pilot program for 5 additional years. It is a little-used program, and I think we should do a lot to expand and promote this program because it is an investment program. This pilot program arose out of the basic immigrant investor EB-5 program. Ten thousand EB-5 visas are available each year, 5,000 of which are reserved for people who participate in the pilot program.

The requirements for participating in the pilot program are essentially the same as the requirements for participating in the EB-5 investor program, with some exceptions. An investor under the pilot program can qualify with an investment of less than $1 million, which is the requirement for the basic EB-5 program. The pilot program investor may satisfy the eligibility requirements with an investment of as little as $500,000 in a specified type of commercial enterprise that would be to promote economic growth, improve regional productivity, create new jobs or save existing ones, and increase domestic capital investment in certain definitively needy areas that would benefit from this investment. I would encourage the utilization of these visas as much as possible.

I am pleased that foreign investors are being encouraged to invest in regions of our country that need the stimulation of such enterprises. I think this is a worthwhile program that should be extended. I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill.

Might I also acknowledge the work of the Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on the Judiciary, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) who worked on this legislation and my chairman on the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hostettler), that efforts were waged to compromise on this legislation. I do still have concerns, but I believe that we have worked through a bill that is suited for the support of my colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, the Basic Pilot is a temporary, voluntary program for electronically verifying the employment authorization of newly hired employees. The bill, S. 1685, would extend the program for another 5 years.

The objective of employment verification is to ensure that American employers hire workers who are authorized to work in the United States. Under the Basic Pilot, the employer examines the documents of a newly hired employee and then transmits the pertinent information electronically to an office at the Social Security Administration (SSA). The SSA office compares the information with its records. In the case of a foreign worker, the SSA office will pass the information on to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS).

The BCIS compares the alien's employment data with immigration records to determine whether he or she is authorized to work in the United States. If BCIS confirms that the alien employee is authorized to work in the United States, it issues a confirmation number. If BCIS determines instead that the new employee is not authorized for employment in the United States, it issues a tentative nonconfirmation number. Procedures are available to permit either the employer or the employee to contest a tentative nonconfirmation before it becomes final.

The Basic Pilot is an effective employee verification program that makes it easier and safer for employers to hire foreign workers, which makes it easier for lawful foreign workers to find employment.

Section 405 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) required the Attorney General to submit a report on the Basic Pilot to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. The report was done by the Institute for Survey Research at Temple University. The institute identified a substantial number of implementation problems. It concluded, among other things, that the Basic Pilot was a good program but that it was not ready yet for larger scale implementation. Consequently, I have concerns about a provision in S. 1685 which would expand the pilot program from its present size of being available in only 6 States to being available in all 50 States.

S. 1685 has a provision, however, which addresses the problems that the institute identified. This provision would require the Secretary of Homeland Security, prior to expanding the program to submit a report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees stating first, the extent to which these problems have been resolved; and second, describing what additional actions will be taken before expanding the program.

S. 1685 would extend the duration of an immigrant investor pilot program for 5 additional years. This pilot program arose out of the basic immigrant investor EB-5 program. Ten thousand EB-5 visas are available each year, 5,000 of which are reserved for people who participate in the pilot program.

The requirements for participating in the pilot program are essentially the same as the requirements for participating in the EB-5 investor program, with some exceptions. An investor under the pilot program can qualify with an investment of less than $1 million, which is the requirement for the basic EB-5 program. The pilot program investor may satisfy the eligibility requirements with an investment of as little as $500,000 in a specified type of commercial enterprise. The enterprise must promote economic growth, improve regional productivity, create new jobs or save existing ones, and increase domestic capital investment.

I am pleased that foreign investors are being encouraged to invest in regions of our country that need the stimulation of such enterprises. I think this is a worthwhile program that should be extended.

I urge you therefore to vote for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me also note, I think, an important aspect of this bill, and, that is, a concern about the dissemination of information and violation of privacy that the initial bill exhibited. I am pleased to note that the Senate removed a provision that would give State and local governments access to the information collected with this program. That would have been the first step toward the dissemination or the idea, which I think is still highly debatable, of a national identity card. So, in fact, we have provided safeguard provisions to make this legislation work, to provide the information that is necessary to ensure the protection of the workplace, and also to provide due process rights for all who are involved.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Berman), member of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims, who has worked long years in bringing us a consistent and effective immigration policy for this country.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

First of all, let me again acknowledge my colleagues on the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims and the full Committee on the Judiciary; but I always want to acknowledge the staff, both majority and minority, for working through this legislation.

I would simply say that we have realized that we have this dilemma between the need for American workers to have jobs, particularly in this economy, and juxtaposing it against the numbers of immigrants who have come to this country for opportunity, in many instances economic opportunity. I hope that, as we look at this legislation, we will be reminded of the fact that we do need to establish a real immigration policy for this Nation.

The basic pilot legislation helps us to avoid what I think is the ugliest part of this conflict with illegal immigration, and that is racial stereotyping and stigmatizing of those who happen to come from a background that would ordinarily suggest that they are not here with legal status. By being able to find out real information through the BCIS and the Social Security Administration, employers can be safe and secure in those that they might hire.

At the same time I think that this body owes it to the establishment of a real immigration policy along with the administration that we should pass 245(i) and begin to look at ways to address the question of 8 million undocumented aliens by earning access to legalization, by passing legislation that allows those who have come here to work to earn their way to citizenship first by way of being in this country for 5 years without a criminal background, paying taxes, and working, finding a way for them to route themselves to real citizenship.

Might I say in conclusion that as we organize a Homeland Security Department, and the Committee on the Judiciary worked very hard to establish aspects of the immigration provisions, to the credit of the Committee on the Judiciary, that particular section was called the Bureau of Citizenship, I believe, and Immigration Services. That is an important step, that we want people to be able to legally access citizenship, those who have come here to work and come here to do what is good for this country to be able to access citizenship even if their first entry might have been in an illegal status.

This legislation clearly is needed today, but we do need a forceful immigration policy. With that I ask my colleagues to vote for this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1685) to extend and expand the basic pilot program for employment eligibility verification, and other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 1685, the bill currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today we are considering Senate 1685, a bill authored by Senator Grassley that represents a fair and reasonable compromise regarding the reauthorization of the employment eligibility verification pilot project.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 made it unlawful for employers to knowingly hire or employ illegal aliens and required employers to check the identity and work eligibility documents of all new employees. Unfortunately, illegal aliens have used the easy and cheap availability of counterfeit documents to make a mockery of this law. Today's document-based verification system just does not work. It frustrates employers who do not want to hire illegal aliens but have no other choice than to accept documents that have a high likelihood of being counterfeit.

In 1996, Congress responded to this state of affairs by creating a pilot program under which employers who elect to participate may submit the Social Security and alien identification numbers of newly hired employees to be checked against Social Security Administration and INS records.

This weeds out bogus numbers provided by illegal aliens and thus ensures that new hires are genuinely eligible to work.

The pilot program has been a great success over its 6 years of operation. A recent study found that 96 percent of participating employers believed the pilot to be an effective and reliable tool for employment verification, 94 percent believed it to be more reliable than the IRCA-required document check, and 83 percent believed that participating in the pilot reduced uncertainty regarding work authorization. The study recommended the continuation of the pilot.

Last month, this body considered H.R. 2359, introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert), that would have extended the pilot program for an additional 5 years. It would have allowed employers throughout the Nation to voluntarily participate. Currently, the Department of Homeland Security is required to operate the pilot in at least five of the seven States with the highest estimated number of illegal aliens.

Senate 1685 also extends the pilot for an additional 5 years. It also takes two steps to address the concerns of some of our colleagues that aspects of the pilot program can be improved. First, the bill delays nationwide expansion for a year. It provides that employers in all States shall be able to participate in the basic pilot program no later than December 1, 2004. In addition, not later than June 1, 2004, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall complete a report evaluating whether any problems identified in the 2001 report on the basic pilot program have been substantially resolved and describing what actions the Secretary shall take to resolve any outstanding problems before undertaking the expansion of the program.

Senate 1685 also addresses the immigrant investor visa program. To encourage economic development through the program, Congress created a 5-year temporary pilot program in 1993 that set aside 3,000 immigrant visas each year for aliens who invested at least $500,000 in designated regional centers. A regional center is any economic unit, public or private, which is involved with the promotion of economic growth, including increased export sales, improved regional productivity, job creation, or increased domestic capital investment. A center seeking approval must submit a proposal showing how it plans to focus on a geographical region within the United States to achieve the required growth. Once a center has been approved, an alien applicant can receive an investor visa by showing that he will make the qualifying investment within the approved regional center. In 2000, Congress extended this program until September 2003.

Senate 1685 extends this pilot program for an additional 5 years and also allows the Department of Homeland Security to process investor visa petitions involving regional centers expeditiously, as compared to nonpilot program investor visa petitions.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill. The legislation will provide willing employers throughout the Nation the tools they need to hire a legal workforce.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hostettler), chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims.

(Mr. HOSTETTLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert), the author of the House version of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the only way we are going to get a handle on the illegal immigration problem of this country is by giving employers the means to verify whether an applicant for employment is legally able to work here and then to enforce the 1986 law which makes it illegal for an employer to hire an illegal alien. If we do not do both, then it will be always cheaper for an employer to break the law by hiring an illegal alien because they do not have to pay them the minimum wage, they do not have to have workplace safety and environmental standards. In many cases they are paid in cash; and the deductions for Social Security and Federal and State income tax withholding are not taken out, all of which is illegal, but there still is a huge economic incentive for an employer to break the law multiple times by hiring an illegal alien.

This bill is an important part of closing a part of that loop, by giving employers nationwide the tools to find out if the person who is asking for a job is legal and a better way of being able to determine whether the documents that the applicant presents are genuine documents or counterfeit documents.

So we have done a part of making our immigration laws more effective by passing this legislation, but the other part indeed deals with enforcement because without enforcement of the immigration law, the problem that we thought we solved with the amnesty that was granted in 1986 will continue whether or not there is another amnesty that is granted by the Congress, which is a move that I personally oppose. So with that, I urge the Members to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this Member rises in strong support of S. 1685, the Basic Pilot Extension Act of 2003. This Member, who is a cosponsor of the House measure, would like to thank the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Grassley) for introducing the measure.

Under S. 1685, the Basic Pilot Program, which is an employment verification program, would be extended through 2008 and, indeed, would expand access to the program for the entire U.S.

Mr. Speaker, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 correctly prohibited employers from knowingly hiring illegal aliens or people with non-immigrant visas. Unfortunately, at that time, Congress did not give employers the corresponding tools with which to comply with this Act.

For example, due to concerns regarding discrimination, employers are limited in the questions they may ask of potential employees to verify if those individuals are authorized to work in the U.S. If the employment verification documents that potential employees produce appear to be legitimate, then employers must accept the documents as legitimate without further inquiry of the potential employee.

During Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) enforcement raids, certain employers were found to have hired large numbers of illegal aliens, either knowingly or unintentionally, and subsequently they were subject to penalties. As technology has progressed to allow for the cheap and quick production of legitimate-looking fraudulent documents, the inability of employers to distinguish between valid documents and fraudulent documents has significantly increased. It became clear that businesses dedicated to complying with the IRCA needed new tools to assist with the endeavor.

When the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996 was enacted, it authorized the creation of three employment verification tools, including the Basic Pilot Program. Initially, employers in California, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Florida, New York, and Iowa could voluntarily use the Basic Pilot Program to compare the information received from potential employees with Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) databases to determine if potential employees could be employed legally in the U.S.

Mr. Speaker, throughout the 1990's, many legal immigrants and illegal aliens moved to Nebraska seeking jobs in the meatpacking industry. Subsequently, this Member began to receive contacts from businesses in his district concerned about their capacity to comply with the IRCA. Therefore, on November 30, 1999, this Member joined his House and Senate colleagues in the Nebraska Congressional Delegation in a letter to then-INS Commissioner Doris Meissner requesting the extension of the Basic Pilot Program to Nebraska. This Member continues to firmly believe that providing Nebraska businesses with the tools to hire a legal workforce is an important component in maintaining a stable economy in the state and in meeting needs to effectively enforce immigration laws in this country's interior. On March 19, 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice granted Nebraska businesses access to the Basic Pilot Program. Currently, about eight Nebraska businesses actively utilize the program.

Mr. Speaker, for Congress to allow the Basic Pilot Program to lapse following the horrific and unspeakable terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, would demonstrate true negligence. More than ever, the U.S. must fully enforce its immigration laws to protect its citizens from future attacks. In its capacity to identify document fraud and illegal aliens, the Basic Pilot Program can indeed play a role in the fight against terrorism.

In conclusion, this Member encourages his colleagues to vote for S. 1685.

I thank the chairman for yielding me this time, and I think the ranking member of the subcommittee, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), for her work on this legislation as well.

Mr. Speaker, I want to emphasize two points. First, employers participating in the pilot program find it of immense help in the day- to-day operations of their businesses. And, second, the pilot is working extraordinarily well and will only get better in the future.

The report commissioned by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, or INS, to evaluate the program found that ``an overwhelming majority of employers participating found the basic pilot program to be an effective and reliable tool for employment verification.'' Participating employers

appreciate the pilot because it reduces uncertainty. The pilot ensures that their operations will not be disrupted by the mass dismissal of employees after the Department of Homeland Security or the Social Security Administration question the status of their employees. The pilot ensures that they will not be put in the position of hiring illegal aliens, investing hundreds of thousands of hours in training them and then losing the benefit of this investment years down the road when they are forced to dismiss these illegal employees.

As Paul Weyrich has said in his support of this bill, ``If we are really serious about enforcing the immigration laws we have on the books, then we must provide the means for employers to quickly determine the validity of the documents with which they are presented. The way the pilot program works is simple and reflects plain common sense.''

The report indicated that the pilot program could be improved in a few areas. Some employers had taken adverse actions against new employees tentatively found ineligible to work. And INS databases had to be improved, especially in the context of adding data for persons recently issued a work authorization document and for new immigrants and refugees. However, remember that the report evaluated operations of the pilot in the 1990s. Since that time, INS and now the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, have been actively making any needed improvements. DHS believes that there has been ``an overwhelming improvement in the timeliness of data entry, particularly in response to the events of September 11.'' In fact, DHS now requires that all new data regarding immigrants be entered into the system within 3 days and all new information regarding temporary visitors be entered within 14 days.

As to employer responsibilities, DHS said that ``greater emphasis on pilot procedures has been added to training materials, and safeguards have been added to pilot software to increase compliance with required procedures. For instance, employers will be required to certify that they have talked with their employees and advised them of their rights if they cannot immediately be confirmed.'' Finally, DHS reports that the soon-to-be-implemented Internet-based version of the pilot will greatly reduce or eliminate any remaining problems.

S. 1685, the bill now under consideration, should ameliorate concerns about any lingering problems in the pilot program by delaying nationwide implementation until next December and requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue a report by June evaluating whether the problems identified by the 2001 report have been substantially resolved and describing what actions he needs to take before December 2004 in order to resolve them.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for S. 1685.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1685, the Basic Pilot Program Extension and Expansion Act of 2003. The basic pilot employment verification system is the only automated system offered to employers to verify employment eligibility of new employees.

In 1994 I spoke with a Border Patrol agent who identified a key need in the enforcement of immigration laws. Employers need a simple way, a reliable tool to verify the worker status of new employees. In response, I introduced a bill to create the basic pilot program to do just that. Operating in six of the most problematic States on a voluntary basis, the basic pilot has proven to be an overwhelming success. The basic pilot program is the best tool available for employers to comply with immigration laws which prohibit hiring undocumented immigrants.

Recently, a contract cleaning service for Wal-Mart was raided by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and over 250 employees were arrested. If Wal-Mart's cleaning service had used the basic pilot program and verified the I-9 documents provided by their workers, this situation could have been avoided. We must provide companies the option of using this employment verification program and assist them in complying with Federal immigration law. This program is in no way mandatory. It is completely voluntary and may be used at the discretion of the employer. Without the option to use the basic pilot program, employers have no means of verifying legal work status for immigrants, causing many employers to discriminate against legal workers.

This program gives employers the confidence to hire legal immigrants, reducing discrimination in the workplace. Additionally, S. 1685 allows employers from any State to voluntarily use this program. Many of my colleagues have expressed concerns that this will expand the program too far too fast. The reality is that current pilot States are home to over 80 percent of all illegal immigrants, which means the impact on the program will be negligible. The bill also requires the Department of Homeland Security to complete a report identifying and resolving any problems with the program and the expansion.

After 7 successful years, it is time to give all employers the option of verifying their workforce and avoiding entanglements with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

I would like to thank Senator Grassley for sponsoring S. 1685, the Senate counterpart to my bill, and encourage my colleagues to vote for a bill that promotes compliance with Federal law.