[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 149 (Thursday, October 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13391-S13392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           AGJOBS ACT OF 1999

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I'm pleased to have joined Senators Gordon 
Smith, Bob Graham, Max Cleland, and several other colleagues this week 
in introducing S. 1814. This bill is a new, improved version of the 
Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act--or, as we 
call it, the ``AgJOBS'' bill.
  We are facing a growing crisis--for both farm workers and growers.
  We want and need a stable, predictable, legal work force in American 
agriculture.
  Willing American workers deserve a system that puts them first in 
line for available jobs with fair, market wages. We want all workers to 
receive decent treatment and equal protection under the law.
  Consumers deserve a safe, stable, domestic food supply.
  American citizens and taxpayers deserve secure borders and a 
government that works.
  Yet Americans are being threatened on all these counts, because of a 
growing labor shortage in agriculture, while the only program currently 
in place to respond, the H-2A Guest Worker Program, is profoundly 
broken.
  Last year, the Senate adopted meaningful H-2A reform, on a bipartisan 
vote of 68-31. Unfortunately, that bipartisan floor amendment did not 
survive the last round of negotiations over the omnibus appropriations 
bill last year.
  This year, the problem is only growing worse. Therefore, we are 
introducing a new, improved bill. The name of the bill says it all--
``AgJOBS''.
  Mr. President, our farm workers need this reform bill.
  There is no debate about whether many--or most--farm wokers are 
aliens.
  They are. And they will be, for the foreseeable future. The question 
is whether they will be here legally or illegally.
  Immigrants not legally authorized to work in this country know they 
must work in hiding.
  They cannot even claim basic legal rights and protections. They are 
vulnerable to predation and exploitation. They sometimes have been 
stuffed inhumanly into dangerously enclosed truck trailers and car 
trunks, in order to be transported, hidden from the view of the law.
  In fact, they have been known to pay ``coyotes''--labor smugglers--
$1,000 and more to be smuggled into this country.
  In contrast, legal workers have legal protections.
  They can assert wage, safety, and other legal protections. They can 
bargain openly and join unions. H-2A workers, in fact, are even 
guaranteed housing and transportation.
  Clearly, the status quo is broken.
  Domestic American workers simply are not being found to fill 
agricultural jobs.
  Our own General Accounting Office has estimated that 600,000 farm 
workers--37 percent of the total 1.6 million agricultural work force--
are not legally authorized to work in this country.
  That estimate is low; it's based on self-disclosure by illegal 
workers to government interviewers.
  Some actually have suggested that there is no labor shortage, because 
there are plenty of illegal workers. This is not an acceptable answer.
  Congress has shown its commitment over the past few years to improve 
the security of our borders, both in the 1996 immigration law and in 
subsequent appropriations.
  Between computerized checking by the Social Security Administration 
and audits and raids by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 
more and more employers are discovering they have undocumented 
employees; and more and more workers here illegally are being 
discovered and evicted from their jobs.
  Outside of H-2A, employers have no reliable assurance that their 
employees are legal.
  It's worse than a Catch-22--the law actually punishes the employer 
who could be called ``too diligent'' in inquiring into the 
identification documents of prospective workers.
  The H-2A status quo is slow, bureaucratic, and inflexible. It does 
nothing to recognize the uncertainties farmers face, from changes in 
the weather to global market demands.
  The H-2A status quo is complicated and legalistic. DOL's compliance 
manual alone is 325 pages.
  The current H-2A process is so hard to use, it will place only 34,000 
legal guest workers this year--2 percent of the total agricultural work 
force.
  Finally, the grower can't even count on his or her government to do 
its job.
  The GAO has found that, in more than 40 percent of the cases in which 
employers filed H-2A applications at least 60 days before the date of 
need, the DOL missed statutory deadlines in processing them.
  The solution we need is the AgJOBS Act of 1999.
  Our new, improved AgJOBS bill includes three main parts:
  First, it would create a national AgJOBS registry.
  This new program would match willing workers anywhere in the U.S. 
with available farm work. Workers would be

[[Page S13392]]

free to work where they want and for whom they want.
  Domestic American workers would be given first preference in job 
referrals. Once no domestic worker is available for a job, an 
``adjusting'' worker could receive a referral. If no domestic or 
adjusting worker is available, an employer could then use the H-2A 
program.
  This is essentially the same job registry as in last year's bill, 
expanded to accommodate the new category of adjusting workers.
  Second, it includes much-needed reforms to the H-2A program.
  Currently, red tape, regulation, and bureaucracy has rendered the H-
2A program almost completely ineffective.
  Our reformed H-2A program would expedite the process and more closely 
reflect market reality. Current red tape, delays, and paperwork would 
be reduced or eliminated. Growers would be assured of the timely 
availability of workers.

  Employers still would be required to provide transportation in out of 
the U.S., as under the current H-2A program. Employers must provide 
either a housing allowance or actual housing to H-2A workers. After 3 
years, actual housing would be required, unless the governor of a state 
certified a housing shortage. This is a more stringent housing 
requirement than last year's bill.
  The premium wage guaranteed to H-2A workers--called the Adverse 
Economic Wage Rate or ``AEWR''--would be based more accurately on 
prevailing wage paid to similar workers in that area. This is similar 
to current law, but other jobs, those not closely related, would be 
excluded from the calculation of the AEWR. This simply would ensure 
that the AEWR more closely reflected prevailing wages for that 
particular type of work. In the case of low-wage jobs, a premium would 
be added to the wage. This would still mean H-2A wages higher than 
virtually all non-H-2A farm worker wages. In other words, current H-2A 
workers would still have significant wage protection, and virtually all 
new H-2A workers would get a raise.
  Third, the bill creates a one-time-only new Category called 
``Adjusting'' Workers.
  Experienced farm workers who are already in the U.S. would be allowed 
to stay if:
  --They have worked at least 150 days in agriculture in the 12 months 
before the October 27 introduction of this bill;
  --They agree to work at least 180 days a year, only in agriculture, 
for at least 5 of the next 7 years; during this 5-7 year adjustment 
period, they would be in a temproary, non-immigrant status;
  --They return to their home country at least 2 months a year (during 
the 5-7 year adjustment period. Those with U.S.-born children--i.e., 
children who were already U.S. citizens--could stay year-round, but 
must agree to work in agriculture 240 days/year.
  ``Adjusting'' workers would be earning the right to keep their jobs 
or move to other agricultural jobs. Eventually, they could earn the 
right to a so-called ``green card''--in other words, permanent 
residency.
  For one moment, I want to mention, and then dispose of, the ``A-
Word":
  This bill is not about amnesty, for several reasons. I have always 
been opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants. If this were an amnesty 
bill, I'd be against it.
  This bill is about workers who are already here, for employers who 
need them and value their services, earning a right to stay.
  Amnesty is a gift; this bill is about earning a right. Amnesty means 
one is home free; this bill is about stabilizing the agricultural work 
force and conditions residency on a 5-7 year agreement to continue in 
farm work.
  The level of documentation required to prove a worker already has 
been working in the U.S. is much stricter than for any past amnesty 
law.
  In closing, Mr. President, this is win-win legislation.
  It will elevate and protect the rights, working conditions, and 
safety of workers. It will help workers--first domestic American 
workers, then other workers already here, then foreign guest workers--
find the jobs they want and need.
  It will assure growers of a stable, legal supply of workers, within a 
program that recognizes market realities. The adjusted-worker 
provisions also will give growers one-time assistance in adjusting to 
the new labor market realities of the 21st Century.
  It will assure all Americans of a safe, consistent, affordable food 
supply.
  The nation needs the Smith-Graham-Craig-Cleland AgJOBS bill. I invite 
the rest of my colleagues to join us as cosponsors; and I urge the 
Senate and the House to act promptly to enact this legislation into 
law.

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