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GOP-backed immigration hearing here Aug. 29
By THOMAS B. LANGHORNE
Courier & Press staff writer 464-7432 or langhornet@courierpress.com
Saturday, August 19, 2006

A controversial series of congressional field hearings on illegal immigration held outside the nation's capital will make a stop in Evansville on Aug. 29.

A hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, of which Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., is a member, will begin at 10 a.m. at The Centre.

In an attempt to bolster support for a House-passed border security bill that focuses on tougher enforcement, House Republican leaders announced last month that they would hold 21 immigration hearings in 13 states during Congress' August recess.

The hearings by the Judiciary Committee and other House committees, began July 5 in San Diego.

Democrats have derided the hearings as a political stunt to delay House-Senate compromise negotiations over the two bodies' starkly contrasting immigration bills and to rouse the emotions of conservative voters before November's elections.

"These (hearings) are campaign events driven by the right wing of the Republican Party, not true hearings," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and a co-author of the Senate's immigration bill, said in July.

Critics also have been quick to point out the hearings are being held in places in which some of the nation's most hotly contested House and Senate races are being held.

Vanderburgh is the largest county in Hostettler's 18-county 8th District, where the six-term congressman is locked in a tight race with Democrat Brad Ellsworth.

Hostettler is chairman of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee for Immigration, Border Security and Claims.

A Sept. 1 hearing is set for Dubuque, Iowa, where a tight House race is being waged in a district being vacated by eight-term Republican Rep. Jim Nussle. An Aug. 28 House Resources Committee hearing will be held in Hamilton, Mont., where GOP Sen. Conrad Burns is fighting for election to a fourth six-year term.

Critics also have complained that the hearings by House Republican leaders, who have been openly critical of the Senate's bill, are tainted by that politically charged agenda.

According to the Judiciary Committee, the Evansville hearing will examine the question of "how are U.S. workers impacted, and potentially displaced, by the Reid-Kennedy (Senate) bill."

Republicans have countered that the very fact the House and Senate are at loggerheads over immigration now is a good reason to hold the field hearings now.

"We're holding hearings and conducting site visits to talk to the people who deal firsthand with the problem of illegal immigration," states the House Republican Conference's Border Security Web site. "This is not the time for half-measures and band-aids - we are going to take the time to fully address this problem and give the American people the strong border security bill they deserve."

In December, the House passed an immigration bill focusing on border security, work site verification of all employees, felony charges for illegal immigrants and those housing or assisting them. The House bill cracks down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

But President Bush favors the bill that the Senate passed in May. That bill offers a path to citizenship for many long-standing illegal immigrants if they pay back taxes and a penalty, learn English and don't have a criminal record.

In a June 1 appearance on WNIN-PBS9's "Shively & Shoulders," Hostettler said House leaders are more in step with public sentiment than are Bush and Senate leaders.

Hostettler said some Republicans are listening to "consultants and pundits" who say cracking down on illegal immigration will alienate the Hispanic vote.

But referendums and polls have shown Hispanic Americans are among the most passionate opponents of illegal immigration, Hostettler said.

"Because they came here legally," he said.