Business groups praise Giffords' for legislation aimed at making sure the federal government provides the best possible employee verification system
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today successfully led the effort to bring common sense changes to the federal program for verifying the citizenship status of newly-hired employees.
Giffords' legislation to strengthen and extend the E-Verify program earned strong bipartisan support in the House of Representatives this afternoon when lawmakers approved her Employee Verification Amendment Act of 2008, H.R. 6633. Co-sponsored by six Republicans and 10 Democrats, the legislation passed in a 407 to 2 vote.
H.R. 6633 recognizes that the federal government must develop a mandatory system of employee identification within five years or less that operates uniformly across all 50 states.
"This legislation addresses one of the many vital aspects of our country's immigration crisis: the need for a tough and effective federal employee verification system," Giffords said. "Businesses in Arizona and across the United States must comply with immigration laws. To do that, they depend on reliable information from the federal government about the citizenship status of employees. The Employee Verification Amendment Act of 2008 is intended to do just that."
"In this weak economy, the last thing the federal government should do is impose burdens on the businesses that are the backbone of communities," Giffords continued. "Our job should be to make it easier for businesses to follow the law, not more difficult. This is critical to fixing our broken immigration system."
Giffords' bipartisan legislation has three main provisions:
- Extends E-Verify for five, not 10 years, so the program's effectiveness can be evaluated sooner;
- Requires the Department of Homeland Security to provide timely reimbursements to the Social Security Administration for E-Verify's use of SSA resources; and
- Authorizes two Government Accountability Office studies to investigate the impact of the program on small businesses.
Giffords' sponsorship of the Employee Verification Amendment Act of 2008 is winning praise from a number of business groups.
"It is important that Congress and DHS leave the door open to make ongoing improvements to E-Verify," said Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry. "This system will only increase in use, and new technologies come online every day that could make it a more effective tool for employers. The work Congresswoman Giffords is doing to ensure these improvements are made is extremely important to the continued health of business in our country, and particularly in Arizona."
Dan Danner, executive vice president of National Federation of Independent Businesses, expressed a similar view. "NFIB is pleased with the leadership Congresswoman Giffords has demonstrated during Congress's reauthorization of the E-Verify program," he said "Congresswoman Giffords has been a dedicated representative of small business, both in her southern Arizona district and in Washington, and we appreciate her continued efforts on the behalf of our members."
Susan Tegmeyer, president and CEO of the Greater Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce, said her organization supports the five-year extension called for in the Employee Verification Amendment Act of 2008.
"The Chamber would oppose any legislation which would extend the current E-Verify system for another decade without a review of the current policies and procedures," she said. "We would also welcome a Government Accountability Office study to determine the impact of the E-Verify program on the business community, in particular small businesses."
Click here to view a video of her remarks.