{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mackenzie.house.gov/media/press-releases/chairman-mackenzie-leads-hearing-strengthening-e-verify-protect-american", "Chairman Mackenzie Leads Hearing on Strengthening E-Verify to Protect American Workers", "2025-11-19", "2025", "2025-11", "Republican", "House", "PA", "Ryan Mackenzie", "M001230", "mackenzie.house.gov", "mackenzie", "https://mackenzie.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, held a hearing titled \u201cE-Verify: Ensuring Lawful Employment in America.\u201d The hearing examined how strengthening and expanding the E-Verify program can help ensure lawful hiring practices, protect American workers from unfair competition, and support employers who follow the law.\n\nE-Verify is a free federal system that allows employers to quickly verify whether a prospective employee is legally authorized to work in the United States. Nearly 1.5 million employers currently participate nationwide.\n\nWitnesses from the construction industry, homebuilding sector, and immigration policy community, testified about the current use of E-Verify. Topics included compliance challenges and opportunities to improve accuracy, enforcement, and contractor requirements.\n\n\u201cFollowing Congress and the President\u2019s unprecedented success in securing the border, we can focus on the illegal and unauthorized labor already in the country and the challenges it causes for American workers,\u201d said Workforce Protections Chairman Mackenzie. \u201cAmerican jobs and wages belong to those with a legal right to work in our country, but millions of workers are being squeezed by illegal competition. Most employers do the right thing, but when bad actors knowingly hire unauthorized workers, it drives down wages, eliminates opportunities for American workers, and creates unfair advantages. Strengthening E-Verify is a commonsense way to protect workers and support businesses that play by the rules.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs the Trump administration continues to secure our nation\u2019s borders, Republicans are doing our part in Congress to address the illegal immigration crisis in our workforce. Hiring illegal aliens undercuts wages of working Americans and makes it harder for honest, law-abiding employers to compete in the American economy. Today\u2019s hearing, led by Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, provided strong insights into the benefits of E-Verify and how we can continue to strengthen the program for employers and job creators\u2014and protect the wages of hardworking American families,\u201d said Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI).\n\nChairman Mackenzie is a longtime advocate for expanding the use of E-Verify. As a Pennsylvania state representative, he authored and passed a bipartisan law mandating the use of E-Verify in the construction industry. Mackenzie has also introduced legislation \u2014 the Day 1, Dollar 1 E-Verify Act \u2014 to require all federal contractors to use E-Verify. While federal contractors are generally required to use the system because of existing regulation, small-dollar and short-term contracts are excluded. Congressman Mackenzie\u2019s legislation would remove this loophole and codify the mandatory use of E-Verify by all federal contractors.\n\n\u201cFamilies across the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos expect fairness in hiring, pay, and opportunity,\u201d said Workforce Protections Chairman Mackenzie. \u201cStrengthening E-Verify helps protect wages, prevent abuse, and protect employers who act responsibly.\u201d\n\nA full recording of the hearing is available HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://mackenzie.house.gov/media/press-releases/chairman-mackenzie-leads-hearing-strengthening-e-verify-protect-american"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3002001214772463, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}