Letter from Shelley
Friends and Colleagues,
This week, the House was busy passing legislation that funds the federal government. One of the bills we worked on funds the Departments of Commerce, Justice, Science, and related agencies.
Illegal Aliens; Violent Crime Addressed
I offered three amendments to the Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill, and I'm pleased to report that the House adopted them all. These amendments deal with serious issues: illegal aliens and violent crime. And none of them cost any additional tax dollars.
My first amendment would shift an extra $10 million to a program called the Southwest Border Prosecutor Initiative. This money will help state and county governments shoulder the expense of prosecuting and detaining aliens and drug traffickers who come across the southwest border.
My second amendment would shift $10 million to the Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, Stalking, and Child Abuse Enforcement Assistance Grants program. This program is part of the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women.
Rural Domestic Violence Grants fund cooperative efforts between law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim services groups. These grants provide treatment, counseling and assistance to victims, and help rural communities develop education and prevention strategies.
Last but not least, I amended the Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill so that none of its funds may be used in violation of a 1996 law that should have required all federal departments to screen new hires for employment eligibility in our country. Incredibly, the departments of Commerce and Justice were not participating!
We have a program called the Basic Pilot Program which lets employers check a new hire's Social Security Number and/or his alien identification number to see if he can legally work in the United States. Clearly, the federal government needs to follow the law and utilize the Basic Pilot Program. My position is simple: We must prevent illegal workers from being given jobs that law-abiding Americans could be filling.
Minimum Wage Increase Takes Effect
Thanks to legislation that I supported earlier this year, a three phase increase to the minimum wage began on Tuesday when the minimum wage increased by 70 cents. This was the first phase of an increase that will lead to a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour in July 2009. This is good news to many hard-working West Virginians, and it comes at a time when unemployment in West Virginia stands at a historically low level of 4.5 percent.
Sincerely,
Member of Congress
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House Approves Three Capito Amendments that Address Illegal Immigrants, Violent Crime
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2007 – Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito speaks on the floor of the U.S. House in support of one of the three amendments she successfully offered to the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill. The amendments boost funding for the prosecution of illegal aliens, increase funding for female crime victims, and take steps to ensure the federal government is not putting illegal immigrants on its payroll. (click on the underlined words above to watch video of Rep. Capito speaking in support of each amendment)
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IN THE NEWS: House OKs Capito Proposal on Aliens, Female Crime
The Beckley Register-Herald
Mannix Porterfield
Friday, July 27
Riders that Rep. Shelley Moore Capito proposed to a $53 billion justice, science and commerce spending bill to deal with illegal aliens and help women victimized by crime in rural settings has gained House approval.
One amendment provides more money to prosecute illegal aliens, the source of much controversy this year in Congress, while a second change she added to the bill guarantees the federal government doesn’t hire illegal immigrants.
An extra $10 million is provided for the Southwest Border Prosecutors Initiative.
Often, Capito explained, aliens and drug traffickers are caught along the border but the federal government decides against prosecution, leaving state and county officials to absorb the costs of pursuing such cases.
Capito, R-W.Va., said her intent is to provide local authorities with more money to support prosecutors, probation officers, courts and detention facilities.
Another $10 million would go to grants programs covering rural domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and child abuse under the Office on Violence Against Women within the Justice Department.
“To be safe in their communities, women first need to be safe in their homes,” she said.
“Of the 12,621 domestic violence victims reported in West Virginia in 2005, a total of 8,626 — or 68 percent — were victims of intimate partner violence.
“We must break this cycle of violence against women.”
To read the full text of this story, click here.
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