Please OPPOSE Sessions Amendment 1371 which:

· Makes the notoriously flawed E-verify program permanent.

· Requires all federal contractors and subcontractors to use the program to verify all employees including existing employees as well as new employees.

· Harms U.S. workers, citizens and non-citizens alike, who are falsely denied work.

· Harms U.S. businesses, especially small businesses, by creating substantial new burdens.

· Slows down economic recovery.

THIS AMENDMENT SHOULD BE OPPOSED BECAUSE:

Making E-Verify permanent without steps to address its fundamental flaws is a serious mistake.

· Virtually every entity that has reviewed E-Verify carefully — including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General (SSA-OIG) — has found that it has significant weaknesses, including (1) its reliance on government databases that have unacceptably high error rates and (2) employer misuse, whether intentional or unintentional, of the program. The flaws in the system must be addressed before any expansion/mandate of it or plans to make the program permanent.

U.S. citizens and lawful immigrant workers, who need to correct inaccurate records with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), or both, face big hurdles in correcting the inaccuracies in E-verify.

· Over 50% of people who call a local SSA field office with inquiries receive a busy signal.

· In-person visits to SSA or DHS regional and field offices will be tough for workers, especially rural ones, since most offices require lengthy travel and are only open during workday hours.

· U.S. citizens who have to present original records to correct problems could face long waits. In Arizona, all certified copies of birth certificates for births occurring before 1990 are not available for in-person pick-up and can only be received through the mail. Requests for birth certificates take approximately 15-20 days for regular processing.

Economic estimates point to crippling effects of mandating E-Verify.

· The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2008 that mandatory use by all U.S. employers [without legalization] would lead to an increase in undocumented workers being paid outside the tax system, which over a 10-year period would result in a loss of $17.3 billion in federal revenue.

· The U.S. Chamber of Commerce concluded that mandating E-Verify for federal contractors would result in net societal costs of $10 billion a year.

· The federal government estimated in 2008 that mandating E-verify for federal contractors would impose costs on them of at least $100 million in the first year and between $550 to $670 million during the next 10 years.

The costs of imposing a mandatory system are especially high for small business.

· Government analyses have shown that mandatory E-verify for federal contractors will have a disproportionate effect on small businesses and their ability to contribute to the economy.They specifically acknowledged that such an action would impose costs on “nearly every small entity in the Federal contractor base;” there are currently 324,250 small businesses registered to do business with the government as contractors or subcontractors.

· Small businesses (which employ approximately half of the entire U.S. workforce and have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade) are being hit harder by the economy and more burdens could prevent them from creating new jobs and revenues.

Expanding the program at this juncture is not in line with the Administration.

· The President’s budget calls for an extension of E-verify as a voluntary program and focuses resources towards protecting employees from discriminatory practices, safeguarding privacy, and enhancing program efficacy.

· The Administration has also suspended implementation of a rule (that would mandate E-verify for federal contractors) until September 2009 in order to allow it to complete its review of the final rule.