Jon L. Christensen: “I rise in opposition to Congressman Issa's amendment to H.R. 3231. Mr. Issa's amendment would remove existing civil…”

“I rise in opposition to Congressman Issa's amendment to H.R. 3231. Mr. Issa's amendment would remove existing civil service laws that are currently in place to protect against hiring on the basis of patronage and cronyism and eliminate all procedural protections in disciplinary proceeding, including those in collective bargaining agreements. This proposal would give the agency the authority to circumvent the civil service system for hiring purposes. It would also eliminate existing procedural protections for all INS employees for any offense ostensibly committed by an employee including collective bargaining protections pertaining to disciplinary actions. After the events of September 11th, it became evident that there was a need to restructure the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in order to improve our national security. I commend my colleagues for their leadership in bringing this bill on the floor today after months of investigation and hearings on this matter. I support the INS reform but not at the expense of protecting employee rights. Mr. Issa's amendment does this. Why would we strip INS employees from safeguards against unfair hiring and firing practices? As it stands today, the system that INS currently has in place for dealing with labor related issues is failing their employees.”