Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2019, which is similar to a bill introduced by Representative Pingree in the House. My bill would allow asylum seekers to seek employment 30 days after applying for asylum, provided their applications are not frivolous, their identities have been verified, and their names run through the Federal government's terrorist watch lists. This change would allow asylum applicants to work and contribute to society without being dependent on assistance from local governments while their claims are being adjudicated.

Under current law, asylum seekers must wait 180 days after filing their applications before they are allowed to work. The 180-day requirement was adopted by the Clinton Administration in 1994 out of concern that some asylum seekers might apply for asylum primarily as a means of getting a work authorization. Clearly, this change has only transferred the burden of care for these asylum seekers onto communities across the Nation.

One such community is Portland, Maine. Earlier this year, over the span of several weeks, a surge of asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola arrived in Portland after crossing our southern border. These asylum seekers could have given a much-needed boost to Maine's very tight labor market--our unemployment rate is just 2.8 percent--but the lengthy work-authorization process prevents these asylum seekers from getting jobs even to support themselves.

Thankfully, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act of 2019 made funds available to assist local communities dealing with a sudden influx of asylum seekers. The City of Portland and private organizations in southern Maine received $892,586 from that Act. While I am pleased that these funds have been provided to Portland and other communities around our country, it would be a better solution if those seeking asylum were able to join the workforce and achieve self- sufficiency as quickly as possible while awaiting the outcome of their cases.

It is my hope that the change proposed by my bill will lessen the burden on the budgets of communities hosting asylum seekers while allowing these individuals and their families to support themselves as they want to do, bringing needed skills to the cities and towns in which they settle. I encourage my colleagues to support it. ______

By Mr. MORAN:

S.J. Res. 61. A joint resolution approving the request of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for a waiver under section 1703E(f) of title 38, United States Code; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

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