ADVISORY

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

Thomas Announces Hearing on Impacts of Border Security and Immigration on Ways and Means Programs

Congressman Bill Thomas (R-CA), Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Committee will hold a hearing to review the impact of current and proposed border security and immigration policies on programs in the Committee’s jurisdiction.  The hearing will take place on Wednesday, July 26, 2006, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 2:00 p.m.

In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only.  However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.

BACKGROUND:

Immigrants to the United States are an essential part of the fabric of our nation.  They contribute to our economy and participate in our society in countless ways as they work, pay taxes, raise their families, and utilize many of the same public services and benefits that are available to all Americans.  

However, lax border security and inadequate enforcement of immigration laws has contributed to a substantial increase in illegal immigration.  Since the last major immigration reform legislation was enacted twenty years ago--the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986(P.L. 99-603)--the estimated number of illegal immigrants in the United States has nearly quadrupled, from 3.2 million in 1986 to 12 million in 2006.  Illegal immigration and proposals to address it affect our Nation’s benefit programs, health care costs, and tax system. 

Under current law, immigrants living in the United States are required to pay taxes; however, illegal immigrants may not obtain benefits from many entitlement programs or utilize certain tax advantages.  For non-citizens living legally in the United States, access to many benefits is restricted, based on their immigration status.  Therefore, legislative proposals that would legalize certain illegal immigrants or increase legal immigration would result in increased spending for Social Security, Medicare, other benefit programs, and for refundable tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit.  These legislative proposals would also increase revenue from taxes paid by new immigrants who start working in the United States or newly-legalized immigrants who want to come into compliance with the law.  

The lure of employment opportunities in the United States has long been acknowledged as a significant incentive for immigration.  Enforcing the law prohibiting employers from knowingly hiring illegal workers is essential to securing our borders.  Many Federal agencies play a role in identifying unauthorized work or penalizing employers who hire illegal immigrants, including the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Internal Revenue Service.  Some legislative proposals would require employers to check the SSA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security databases to verify employees’ identifying information and employment eligibility, and would expand data sharing between agencies to improve enforcement of immigration laws.  Although these proposals would assist in bolstering workplace enforcement if enacted, they would also place administrative burdens on employers and the SSA.  In addition, these proposals affect the privacy of tax information and could discourage voluntary tax law compliance. 

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Thomas said, “Our first priority is to secure our borders and enforce our laws.  Next, we must carefully consider how proposals to modify immigration policy, including those that would legalize millions of illegal immigrants, would affect Social Security and other benefit programs, our health care system and tax revenues.  The actions we take today will have a profound impact on America’s economy and society, and we must take the time to do it right.  We need a comprehensive, long-term solution that recognizes the important role immigrants play in our society and economy, while ensuring there is respect for the rule of law.”

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

This hearing will focus on the effect of immigration and border security-related proposals on the costs and administration of certain entitlement programs within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means (including Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Medicare, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and the effect on tax revenues and compliance.

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:

Please Note:  Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms.  From the Committee homepage, http://waysandmeans.house.gov, select “109^th Congress” from the menu entitled, “Hearing Archives” (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/Hearings.asp?congress=17).  Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, “Click here to provide a submission for the record.”  Once you have followed the online instructions, completing all informational forms and clicking “submit” on the final page, an email will be sent to the address which you supply confirming your interest in providing a submission for the record.  You MUST REPLY to the email and ATTACH your submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, in compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by close of business Wednesday, August 9, 2006.  Finally, please note thatdue to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings.  For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225‑1721.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:

The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record. As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee. The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines. Any submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

1.   All submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or WordPerfect format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments.  Witnesses and submitters are advised that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

2.  Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing.  Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased.  All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

3.  All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons, and/or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.  A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers of each witness.

Note:  All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at http://waysandmeans.house.gov.

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.