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Rep. Calvert Testifies on Transportation and Employment Verification

 

Dear Friends,

 

During a recent Telephone Town Hall, I was asked a good question: “What do you do all day as a Congressman?”  My weeks usually consist of several committee hearings, meetings with constituents, debating and voting on the House floor.  This week I had the opportunity to testify before two committees on legislation I have introduced that I consider a priority for our area: combating illegal immigration and improving transportation infrastructure.

 

Employment Verification: Ending the Supply of Jobs for Illegal Immigrants

 

Over a decade ago I wrote legislation that created E-Verify, a voluntary program operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that allows employers to check that a new employee is authorized to work in the U.S.  E-Verify is web-based (www.dhs.gov/everify), accurate and timely.  The states of Arizona and Mississippi have made use of E-Verify mandatory and President Bush recently signed an Executive Order requiring all federal contractors to use the program – an action that is long overdue.  Unfortunately, E-Verify has been under attack from special interests who have historically been opposed to any workable employment verification program.  The authorization for E-Verify expires November 30, 2008 and I have introduced legislation to extend the existing program for ten years (H.R. 5596) as well as a bill to make E-Verify mandatory (H.R. 19).  On Tuesday, June 10, 2008 the hearing by the Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law focused on “Electronic Employment Verification Systems: Needed Safeguards to Protect Privacy and Prevent Misuse.” 

 

As I stated at the hearing, when I first wrote the bill that created E-Verify, I intentionally created it on a limited basis for to ensure that it would not be abused or be a source of misinformation.  Criticisms have been made against E-Verify describing the program as “complicated, unreliable and burdensome.”  This misinformation is simply not true: after signing up, the employer can simply enter in the name and Social Security information (or work authorization information if the employee is a non-citizen) and 94.2% of checks to the system are instantly verified as authorized to work.  Of the remaining 5.8%, only .5% are individuals whose information was incorrect and needed to be rectified (many of these cases are a change in marital status who failed to notify the Social Security Administration of the change).  That means the remaining 5.3% of employees walk away from the process most likely because they are here illegally.  According to DHS, they have never been notified of a false final non-confirmation.  E-Verify is working and I will continue to push leaders in Congress to, at the very least, reauthorize the program.

 

Transportation Gridlock: Finding New Revenue Sources to Invest in Infrastructure

 

            Not only are gas prices at all time highs in California, our roads seem more congested than ever.  I’ve written in the past about a bill I introduced in January titled the ON TIME Act, H.R. 5102.  On Tuesday, June 10, 2008, I testified before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure about how the ON TIME Act can help ease congestion for both commuters and freight.

 

            The ON TIME Act:

 

·        Targets funding to specific transportation improvement projects in areas around the more than 300 points of entry across the United States, including ports, airports and border crossings. The targeted areas will be called National Trade Gateway Corridors (NTGC) and be defined by the Department of Transportation in consultation with the Department of Commerce. 

 

·        Is good for businesses such as freight forwarders, importers, exporters, retailers and any business that benefits from trade because it targets transportation choke points and provides funds to relieve bottlenecks and ultimately allows for more efficient ways to move goods.

 

·        Is good for communities because it would alleviate traffic congestion and air quality issues specifically created by the increase trade moving through our nation’s busiest trade corridors.

 

·        Creates a dedicated funding stream by establishing a freight shipment fee and dedicates 100% of the funds generated at a port to the local National Trade Gateway Corridors surrounding the port.

 

Projects eligible to receive funding include, but are not limited to, freeway expansion, grade separations, dedicated truck lanes, and publicly-owned intermodal freight transfer facilities.   

 

One-hundred percent of the fees collected will be invested in specific and prioritized transportation improvement projects within the same corridor.  For example, if the Port of Los Angeles brings in $200 million worth of revenue in fees, the $200 million will go into transportation projects in the NTGC proceeding from the port of Los Angeles which would include projects in Riverside and Orange Counties. 

 

Our communities, commuters and businesses must have a reliable, steady source of funding for long-term infrastructure projects.  In short, our country needs a national freight strategy and I believe the ON TIME Act will achieve that goal.

 

 

I know many of you are interested in both illegal immigration and transportation challenges and I welcome your feedback.  You may also visit my website at www.calvert.house.gov to learn more about what I am doing in Congress.

 

Sincerely,

 

KEN CALVERT

Member of Congress

 

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