[Congressional Record: December 13, 2001 (Extensions)]
[Page E2270]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr13de01-11]
BASIC PILOT EXTENSION ACT OF 2001
______
speech of
HON. TOM OSBORNE
of nebraska
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, December 11, 2001
Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be a cosponsor of H.R.
3030, the Basic Pilot Extension Act of 2001, which passed the House by
voice vote on December 11, 2001. The Basic Pilot is a joint pilot
conducted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the
Social Security Administration (SSA) in my home state of Nebraska,
among others. This pilot, which started in November 1997, involves
verification checks of the SSA and the INS databases of all newly hired
employees regardless of citizenship. Unfortunately, the Basic Pilot
program was scheduled to terminate on November 30 of this year.
The agricultural economy of Nebraska's Third District relies heavily
on immigrant labor. For the most part, I believe that employers across
my district want to comply with the Immigration Reform and Control Act
of 1986, which made it unlawful for employers to knowingly hire or
employ aliens not eligible to work, and required employers to verify
documents of new workers. However, a simple visual check of these
documents by employers will not tell them if these are in fact
counterfeit documents, and that this potential new hire is in fact an
illegal alien.
I have heard from many business people in the Third District about
their need for the Basic Pilot program. Employers need the appropriate
tools to ensure that they are indeed hiring eligible workers. By
checking the new hire's documents against the INS and SSA databases,
the Basic Pilot program allows employers to feel more confident about
their new hire.
H.R. 3030 will extend the Basic Pilot program for employers in
Nebraska for two years. I thank my colleague, Representative Latham,
for introducing this much needed extension, and I am pleased it passed
the House on December 11, 2001.
____________________
Copyright © 2001 American Immigration LLC, ILW.COM
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