SEN. HUTCHISON, REP. PENCE UNVEIL BORDER SECURITY IMMIGRATION RE

SEN. HUTCHISON, REP. PENCE UNVEIL BORDER SECURITY IMMIGRATION REFORM PLAN Washington, Jul 25 - The following are the remarks of Rep. Mike Pence at this morning's joint immigration press conference with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison: To access a Border Security Certification Summary, Executive Summary and Final Detailed Summary of the Hutchison Pence Plan, please visit the links below right. Senator Hutchison and I come before you today in the midst of a national debate over immigration reform. The House and Senate each have passed bills, but Congress is at an impasse on immigration reform. Two months ago President Bush set out his views on immigration reform to the American people. He said: “There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a program of mass deportation.” As I said a few days after the President spoke, I believe there is a rational middle ground, but amnesty is not the middle ground on immigration reform. I always have seen the solution as a four-step process. Securing our border is the first step. The second step is to make the decision, once and for all, to deny amnesty to people whose first act in the United States was a violation of the law. The third step is to put in place a temporary worker program, without amnesty, that will efficiently provide American employers with willing temporary workers who come to America legally. The final step is tough employer sanctions that ensure a full partnership between American business and the American government in the enforcement of our laws on immigration and temporary workers. Shortly after my speech, the Senator contacted me. As you know, she had offered the SAFE Visa temporary worker plan as an amendment to the Senate bill. She thought that the two of us had a lot in common, and she was right. I am very honored to be here today, standing at her side, to announce our joint proposal: the Hutchison-Pence Plan. We do not view the Hutchison-Pence proposal as a compromise between the two Houses, but instead see it as a contribution to the debate on border security and immigration reform. We believe that this Congress must come together and find a way forward, and we hope this idea can be that way forward. Our plan starts with border security. We use the House-passed bill as our base for border security and interior enforcement, but we add to it many strong border security features from the Senate-passed bill. We mandate that for the first two years after enactment, these border security measures be taking place. After two years, if completed, and if certified as complete by the President to Congress, a no amnesty temporary worker program can begin. We call it a no amnesty temporary worker program because applicants would be required to apply outside the United States for the legal right to be here. The plan requires that temporary workers apply to participate in the program at offices run by private employment agencies. I like to refer to these branches with a term my friend Rep. Charlie Norwood first coined, “Ellis Island Centers.” The private sector places millions of people into jobs every year. With proper government oversight, they will be able to do this job much more effectively than the failed bureaucracy we have in place now. Our no amnesty temporary worker program operates in much the same way as my original proposal, but with crucial improvements that limit the program regionally and substantively. The program will be known as the Good Neighbor SAFE Visa Program because it embraces Senator Hutchison’s vision for limiting participation to citizens of NAFTA and CAFTA-DR countries (our good neighbors and trading partners) and because it incorporates all the strong limitations on external costs envisioned in Senator Hutchison’s original SAFE Visa. Good Neighbor SAFE Visa workers will be required to pass a criminal background check and public health screening. They will receive their visa in the form of a secure, tamper-proof card with biometric information. After two years, they will be required to learn English in order to renew their visa. They only will be allowed to come to America to work if an American cannot be hired for the job. While we allow the spouses and minor children of Good Neighbor SAFE Visa workers to come to the U.S. on an accompanying visa if they pass the criminal background check and health screening, we do not allow any of the workers, their spouses or children to receive Welfare, Social Security or Medicare. Plus, we provide for health care costs by requiring that the workers’ paycheck Medicare contribution go into a separate fund to reimburse health care providers for costs associated with emergency care for foreign workers. The Good Neighbor SAFE Visa Program will work in tandem with a nationwide employment eligibility verification system. Employers will be required to verify the legal status of all new employees, including Good Neighbor SAFE Visa holders, and the hiring of unverifiable employees will be subject to significant fines. We also anticipate the involvement of faith-based groups in the education and implementation of the Good Neighbor SAFE Visa Program. Faith-based groups will be encouraged to teach English to workers and educate the current undocumented community about how to participate in the program. Most churches in America have a Hispanic outreach program, and churches are the trusted voice in the Hispanic community, so we must involve them in this process. I believe Hutchison-Pence is a plan where justice and mercy meet. America is based on the rule of law, and that rule must be enforced. But, the history of our country is also grounded in immigration and in the belief that we treat others, even those who are aliens, with care and compassion. This sentiment is essentially an expression of a moral principal. The ancient words from the Bible, “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him for you were aliens in Egypt,” reflect the sentiment of millions of Americans who share this compassionate view of the illegal immigrants in our midst. But, this must be done without amnesty in order to maintain the rule of law. I sincerely believe that most of the people who have made their way into our nation, apart from violating our immigration laws, are good, decent, law-abiding people who came here to work hard and earn a living. I believe, deep down, most Americans know this and are anxious short of amnesty to provide them a way to get right with the law and become a legitimate part of our neighborhoods and communities. So, is all of this pie-in-the-sky? Only if you do not believe in the private market or American business. Only if you do not believe that Americans are a willing and open-minded people. Only if you do not believe in the desire of those who are here illegally to have the opportunity to get right with the law. We can do this. I believe the Hutchison-Pence Plan is a solution that conservatives can embrace. I believe this proposal is a solution that those opposing amnesty can embrace. I believe this plan offers a solution that those calling for humane treatment of the illegal aliens in our midst can embrace. And, I believe that this solution is one the American people can embrace. This is the real rational middle ground. http://mikepence.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=47657