Peggy Flanagan: “I rise in support of the Chabot amendment. At a time when our Government is trying to get smaller, get out of people's…”

“I rise in support of the Chabot amendment. At a time when our Government is trying to get smaller, get out of people's lives, at a time when big brother is finally moving away from the direction it has gone, when it is trying to be less intrusive, I think that this is not the direction we need to be going. The gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Sensenbrenner] gave us some very excellent practical arguments against this system. Mr. Bryant gave us the alternative argument, which is very good as well. It says, if we are going to have a rule that is going to make employers be required to be INS agents or have some of those functions, at least let us make it easy for them. I say to my colleagues that this is not the direction we need to go to make it easier for private citizens to have to do the job of Government, to be able to stand up and say, no, we are not going to require citizens of the United States to get permission from the Federal Government to work. And that is what this pilot program, if it becomes a total program, would do. To have the Federal Government of the United States be a last word on whether someone works today or whether someone does not is particularly odious. It is anathema to the reason most of us came here.”