With the clock ticking, Johnson urges Representatives
to back his bill to prevent unauthorized employment

April 10, 2008

Today on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (3rd Dist.-Texas) urged fellow Members of Congress to co-sponsor his bipartisan bill to prevent unauthorized employment.

Johnson, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Social Security, Committee on Ways and Means, touted his bill, the New Employee Verification Act, H.R. 5515. The Act achieves three important objectives: ensure a legal workforce, safeguard workers’ identity, and protect Social Security. The text follows.
Remarks as prepared for delivery:

“On November 1st the nation’s voluntary employment verification system, E-Verify, will expire. Our current system of broken laws and broken promises to enforce those laws has allowed over 12 million immigrants to enter our country illegally. Mandating E-Verify won’t fix a broken worksite enforcement system. We must find new solutions.

“Under my bipartisan bill, H.R. 5515, the New Employee Verification Act, the current paper-based and error-prone I-9 process – upon which E-Verify is based – would be replaced with an electronic verification system.

“H.R. 5515 would use the existing new hire registry reporting process already used by 90% of U.S. employers. My bill would mandate a national employment verification system for new hires that is reliable and efficient.

“With E-Verify scheduled to expire this year, now is the time for the Congress to create a new way forward that would help stop unauthorized work. I urge my colleagues to co-sponsor H.R. 5515.”

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