Chamber of Commerce vows to fight immigration bill
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
Last Update: 3:37 PM ET Jan. 4, 2006

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - One of Washington's most powerful business groups vowed Wednesday to continue its fight against House-passed immigration legislation that would tighten border controls and increase pressure on businesses to verify the legal status of their workers.


"We have no problem with increased border enforcement in a reasonable way, or with reasonable requirements that employers verify the work status of who they hire, but we strongly oppose the House bill, as does much of the business community, because it is simply unworkable, unreasonable and fundamentally unfair," said Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The House of Representatives last month passed immigration legislation that includes a provision that would require all employers to submit Social Security numbers and other information to a national database that would be used to verify the status of workers.

Donohue, in a press briefing outlining the business group's 2006 legislative goals, dismissed critics who have charged that business lobbyists have opposed the bill because businesses are seeking a cheap labor force.

Donohue said American employers are simply facing an overall labor shortage, which will be exacerbated as the Baby Boom generation nears retirement.

"What American companies want is labor, and we are going to be significantly without it," he said.

The Senate is expected to take up immigration legislation in February. Donohue said the U.S. Chamber would push for the inclusion of a "guest worker program" - an idea advocated by President Bush but opposed by conservative Republicans.

Donohue said a shortage of skilled workers has prompted the organization to enter the debate over education policy, an area that it has previously avoided.

The organization will begin providing state-by-state rankings of the performance of school systems.

William L. Watts is a reporter for MarketWatch
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