House Adopts DHS Appropriations Conference Report
The House today adopted the conference report accompanying the FY 2010 Homeland Security spending bill, which includes a three-year reauthorization of the E-Verify workplace eligibility verification system. Prior to this vote, House Members defeated a motion to recommit the bill to conference committee with orders to include language that prohibits the transfer of prisoners from the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States.
The conference report reflects a reconciliation of the differences between the bills passed by the Senate and House. The Senate-passed bill included a permanent reauthorization of E-Verify and provisions that would allow E-Verify users to check the workplace eligibility of current employees. It also provided for a reinstatement of the no-match program, which sends letters to companies that submit information to the IRS with a discrepancy between the employee's name and social security number, and for the completion of 700 miles of fencing along the Southern border. All of these Senate-passed provisions were stripped in conference committee, even though most passed unanimously. The conference report passed the House on a 307-114 vote. It will next be considered in the Senate.