Lawmakers seek House vote on reauthorization of electronic vetting system

By Chris Strohm CongressDaily July 1, 2008 A bipartisan group of House lawmakers hopes to buy Congress more time to tackle the charged debate over how best to verify the immigration status of workers in the United States. House Judiciary Chairman Committee John Conyers, D-Mich., and Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., plan to bring a bill to the House floor before the August recess to extend the Homeland Security Department's E-Verify program through 2018. The program, also known as the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program, expires Nov. 1 unless Congress reauthorizes it. The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., would not make any changes to the program. "Really the question is, do we let the current program expire?" Lofgren said Monday. "We want to keep... [read full story]