IMMIGRATION ISSUES LEAD CONGRESS AGENDA SHERMAN BILL WOULD LET 20-YEAR CITIZENS RUN FOR PRESIDENT.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - As the 109th congressional session opened Tuesday, immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. topped the agenda of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, lawmakers, from securing borders against illegal aliens to opening the Oval Office doors to naturalized citizens. Other first-day measures include a continued drive to remove perchlorate perchlorate: see chlorate. from Southern California waters, increase homeownership and improve job-training programs. Rep. Brad Sherman Bradley J. "Brad" Sherman (born October 24 1954) is an American politician. He has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing California's At-large congressional district. , D-Sherman Oaks, co-sponsored a constitutional amendment that would allow any foreigner who has been a U.S. citizen at least 20 years to seek the presidency. It could pave the way for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for the nation's highest office, but Sherman said that wasn't the main reason for sponsoring the bill. ``This bill is not about the election prospects of any one man or woman. It is about the dreams of all Americans,'' he said. The amendment mirrors one pushed last year by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, who plans to reintroduce it soon. Meanwhile, Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, reintroduced a call for fraud-resistant Social Security cards that anyone applying for a job - immigrant or native-born - would be required to present to an employer. The measure has drawn concern from civil libertarians who charge that creating a national identification card could erode individual rights. But Dreier has maintained that the cards would be used only when seeking new employment, not as routine identification. Dreier's bill also would impose a $50,000 fine and prison time on anyone who knowingly hired an illegal immigrant illegal immigrant n. an alien (non-citizen) who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa. (See: alien) . In a slight change from last year, the new bill also would authorize 10,000 new homeland security officers to enforce compliance. For the most part, bills put forth Tuesday have been around Capitol Hill before. Many failed in years past or became mired mire n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. 3. A disadvantageous or difficult condition or situation: the mire of poverty. v. in legislative gridlock Gridlock A government, business or institution's inability to function at a normal level due either to complex or conflicting procedures within the administrative framework or to impending change in the business. . For some lawmakers, introducing a bill on the first day of a new session is a symbolic way of marking it as one of his or her top priorities for the year. Other bills local lawmakers introduced Tuesday include: A job-training measure by Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, would streamline bureaucracy, create one-stop employment-service centers, allow faith-based groups to help train workers, and create personal accounts of up to $3,000 to help unemployed Americans purchase job training and other services such as child care. And McKeon and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, reintroduced the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal sections of the Social Security Act that reduce benefits to anyone who also receives a public pension from a job not covered not covered Health care adjective Referring to a procedure, test or other health service to which a policy holder or insurance beneficiary is not entitled under the terms of the policy or payment system–eg, Medicare. Cf Covered. by Social Security. Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com |
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