This is an anti-fraud amendment.
All over where we go, people say, “Well why can’t you stop illegal immigrants or others from coming here?” And the number one answer we give our constituents is, “when they come here they can get jobs, get benefits against the law because of fraud.”
And here the gentleman from Florida has put together the most effective anti-fraud measure we can find without it changing the actions of the government one bit. And we find all this opposition.
Ladies and gentlemen of this chamber, what I worry about is that this bill, which started out with good intentions — whether you agree with it or disagree with it — is going to end up being the same kind of thing that the public gets angry with us on. We say we’re doing something and we do nothing, because every time someone makes a rational and small proposal to get something done, people say, “Well what about this hypothetical, that hypothetical,” etc.
I urge support of this amendment. If you believe you want to stop fraud in immigration, you have no choice but to support this amendment.
Senator Chuck E. Schumer, March 19, 2006