Date: 2005-12-15
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. one of the primary attributes of a sovereign nation is thWability to control its own borders. In this regard. it is clear that the Constitution. article 1. section 8. places this duty right here. in the Congress. We have thus arrived at that moment of decision where the American people have a legitimate expectation that we will riseto this fundamental responsibility of governance. As one who has had the opportunity to participate in the birthing process of this legislation in both of the committees of primary jurisdiction. I would be the first to acknowledge that this was not an immaculate conception. It remains my belief that a comprehensive approach to the issue is necessary if We are to maximize the effectiveness of our resources on the border. However. it is critical that we have to take a first. step. This bill should be judged on the basis of what it does contain. not for what it does not. On its own merits. this is a good bill. It is a good first step towards regaining control of our borders. And. furthermore. we have the assurances of the chairman of the Judiciary Committee that other aspects of the larger immigration issue will be considered after Qur return. The decision has been made to begin the process of reform of the border security bill. Why? Because that is what the American people expect of us. Even if it is not a Rembrandt. it is not a bad paint job. As one who participated in the crafting of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. actually -as the .Republican floor manager of that bill. I can tell the Members that it was on the issue of employer sanctions that that bill crashed and burn. That legislation made it illegal for employers to knowingly hire or employ aliens not eligible to work in the United States. It was part of a carefully crafted compromise. It was part of the balance in the pro.gram. Little did we know that neither Republican nor Democratic administrations were going to enforce it nor Democratic nor Republican Congresses were going to support it. There is enough blame to go around. It is not just in the Executive branch. It is here in this body as well. And the American people now are demanding that we do something about it. Under the law then passed. employers were to check the identity and work eligibility documents of all new hires. However. the explosion of a new industry dedicated to the production of false and fraudulent documents completely undermined the employer sanctions provision of the bill. It did rot have to happenthat way. Congressmai HALL of Texas offered a verification system somewhat like that coxitained in the bill before us. However. at that time I did not believe. nor did others in this body. that we had the technology to make it work. However. today. we do. It is incumbent upon us that we must learn from the past and have a reliable system of employment verification if �employer sanctions are to work. A workable employment verification system is the critical linchpin in devising a strategy to demagnetize the attraction of unlawful employment. These and other things are in this bill. This is a good first step. Let us not fall on our own swords in an effort to try to say we want a perfect bill. If we do not do .this. we will not do anything.