U.S. Senate Approves $42.9 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill

The United States Senate has passed the Department of Homeland Security Approprations Bill with a price tag of $42.9 billion.

The United States Senate approved a $42.9 billion Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. The bill would help prevent terrorist attacks, prepare and respond to natural disasters, secure the north and south borders and support state and local first responders with the tools they need. An amendment put forth by Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions also requires all federal contractors to use E-Verify and it permanently reauthorizes the program. Another amendment introduced by Senator Jim DeMinit would force the Obama administration to complete the 700-mile border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of 2010. Independent Senator Joe Liberman said, "There is no cheap way to protect our homeland security. It takes money. But it is money well invested in the protection of the American people. Our first responders and preventers deserve the best training, equipment, and staffing that we can provide them. So I am pleased that the Department of Homeland Security spending bill for fiscal year 2010 represents a 7 percent increase over last year for a total of almost $43 billion, including almost $4 billion for states and first responders." The Obama administration has been reluctant with this measure and has delayed it twice. E-Verify that would require contractors to use the system, was originally proposed by the Bush administration. However, the no-match rule was removed from the $43 billion bill. The no-match rule “requires employers who are notified by the Social Security Administration (SSA) that workers' Social Security numbers do not match data in SSA's database to take action to correct those discrepancies in order to ensure their workforce is legal.” The bill also included $800 million for increasing border security along the U.S.-Mexico border because of the dramatic increase in weapons and drugs trafficking. Beginning in September, the Obama administration will order federal contractors must confirm four million workers’ identity against federal databases. Pres. Obama will also extend a federal rule requiring businesses seeking and receiving federal contracts to authenticate their employees’ immigration status with E-Verify. Joanne Lin ACLU Legislative Counsel said, “While the Senate might think it has taken a step to fix illegal immigration, it has actually set into motion a rule that will jeopardize the jobs of tens of thousands of U.S. citizens who could be unjustly fired under the rule due to SSA database errors.” Many claim that E-Verify is filled with errors and, according to the National Immigration Forum, it contains an eight percent error rate. In this legislation, $400 million, a 27 percent increase over fiscal year 2009, for cyber security was put in because many U.S. government websites have been attacked and hacked days before this legislation was passed.