July 27, 2006
Get Yer August Field Hearings. A Dollar A Dozen...
This means that GOP staffers will have to work in August...
House Republicans Announce August Field Hearings on Border SecurityNineteen Hearings to Occur in Twelve States
July 27, 2006
House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today announced the list of border security field hearings that will take place in the month of August. Eight House committees will be holding nineteen hearings that will take place in twelve different states.
The list of hearings and their topics is below
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
San Diego, CA on August 2nd --- How do illegal immigrants impact the costs of healthcare, local education, and other social services, and would these costs increase under Reid-Kennedy immigration bill?
El Paso, TX on August 17th --- What is the financial impact of illegal immigration on communities along the U. S. border, and could these costs rise under the Reid-Kennedy bill? What is the impact on efforts to extend a border security fence under the Reid-Kennedy bill's requirements regarding consultation with the Mexican Government? Will efforts to limit illegal immigration be inhibited by the Reid-Kennedy bill's provisions relating to local law enforcement?
Concord, NH on August 24th --- How do illegal immigrants impact the costs of healthcare, local education, and other social services, and would these costs increase under Reid-Kennedy immigration bill? What is the societal impact of the Reid-Kennedy bill's grant of amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants?
Upstate New York on August 25th --- What are the current risks of terrorists, narcotics smugglers, and human traffickers infiltrating the United States, and what role do secure identification documents play in limiting those risks? Does the Reid-Kennedy bill undermine efforts to limit those risks?
Evansville, IN on August 29th --- How are U. S. workers impacted, and potentially displaced, by the Reid-Kennedy bill?
Dubuque, IA on September 1st --- Do the Reid-Kennedy bill's amnesty provisions repeat the mistakes of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986?
ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
Selfridge Air National Guard Base, MI on August 1st --- What are the unique challenges for the Department of Defense in supporting border enforcement along the Northern Border?
Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, AZ on August 2nd --- What are the operational and training impacts of a porous border on military bases along the border?
HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE
Bellingham, WA on August 8th --- What are the border infrastructure successes since passage of the REAL ID Act and the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act, and what challenges still exist?
Austin, TX on August 17th --- What are the criminal consequences of illegal immigration along the Southern Border?
SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
Sierra Vista, AZ on August 17th --- What is the state of technical surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities for monitoring the efforts of terrorists and drug cartels to infiltrate American soil through the Southern Border?
Grand Rapids, MI on August 23rd --- What is the threat to the United States from Islamic extremists who abuse the legal immigration system?
EDUCATION & THE WORKFORCE COMMITTEE
Plano, TX on July 31st --- Does the Reid-Kennedy bill weaken employment verification systems, making it easier for illegal immigrants to find work inside American borders?
Gainesville, GA on August 14th --- What is the impact on American workers and businesses of the Reid-Kennedy bill's provisions mandating Davis-Bacon wage rates for guest-workers?
ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE
Nashville, TN on August 10th --- What is the impact of the Reid-Kennedy bill's amnesty provisions on the healthcare delivery system and for individual American taxpayers?
Dalton, GA on August 15th --- What is the impact of the Reid-Kennedy bill's amnesty provisions on the healthcare delivery system and for individual American taxpayers?
GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE
San Diego, CA on August 14th --- What is the impact on state and local governments, in terms of both societal costs such as policing and direct government costs such as health care and welfare benefits, of illegal immigration? Would the Reid-Kennedy bill impose huge unfunded mandates on state and local governments?
RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Santee, CA on August 5th --- What efforts need to be undertaken to prevent federal public lands from being harmed as they are used as a pathway for illegal immigration? Does the Reid-Kennedy bill compromise our federal lands?
Hamilton, MT on August 28th --- What efforts need to be undertaken to secure the federal lands along the Northern Border to prevent drug trafficking and other illegal activities? Could the Reid-Kennedy bill make these efforts more difficult?
Posted at 11:28 AM
Comments
I find it incredible that the media (you guys included) reprint verbatim the Republican propaganda that the hearings are on the "Reid-Kennedy" bill.
Currently there are two competing proposals for Immigration reform
H.R. 4437 - the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act (sponsor - James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and its Senate companion bill S. 2454 (sponsor - Bill Frist (R-TN). These two bills deal with border security and are the "enforcement only" bills.
Additionally there is S. 2611 - a comprehensive Immigration bill (enforcement plus methods to deal with current illegal immigrant population besides wholesale deportation) sponsored by Arlen Specter (R-PA).
What is interesting is that while Kennedy is a cosponsor of the comprehensive bill (along with 5 other republicans; Hagel, Martinez, Brownback, McCain, and Grahm) Senator Reid is noticeably absent. And in fact, is not a cosponsor of any immigration bills in the Senate.
While obviously the Republican's want to draw attention away from the fact that this immigration debacle has occurred on their watch - and the Specter legislation was (for the most part) the McCain-Kennedy bill in previous Congresses - I am surprised that the media generally - but you guys specifically have failed to call them on the this particularly egregious and inappropriate
Jason R | 07.27.06 01:47 PM
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