Royce Pushes for Amendments to Prevent Illegal Immigrants from Receiving Health Care Benefits at Taxpayer Expense
Washington,
Nov 6 -
At today's press conference Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) joined several colleagues as well as representatives from Numbers USA and Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform (FAIR) to discuss the lack of verification measures in the Democrat Leadership's government run health care bill.
"I support the amendments being offered to ensure adequate safeguards are in place to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving benefits at the expense of taxpayers," said Royce.
Currently, there are no requirements in the bill that require individuals to verify their citizenship and identity. The amendments being presented to the Rules Committee will prevent American taxpayers from being forced to finance benefits for illegal immigrants and would ensure enforcement mechanisms be included in the legislation.
According to analysis from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) the number of illegal immigrants covered under Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill (H.R. 3962) has increased by an additional 2.5 million from the original bill, H.R. 3200.
"We have put in place, with this legislation, an amplified message that the rule of law will not be enforced here in the United States and that if you do come here illegally all you have to do is provide a fraudulent Social Security number and self attest to obtain these entitlement benefits," said Royce at the press conference.
"Since passage of the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act we have required documentation of proof of citizenship for obtaining federal welfare benefits. Passage of this legislation will eliminate that requirement for receiving the health care benefits in the bill. Why the Democratic Leadership would consciously choose to change that requirement is beyond me. This will cost over $30 billion and it is most unfortunate that the Leadership have already said they will not accept amendments to the Speaker's bill to address this issue," said Royce.
Royce is an original cosponsor of the Secure America with Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act and is a cosponsor of the Secure Fence Act.
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