[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 134 (Tuesday, October 9, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H6442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 FARMWORKER HOUSING CONDITIONS IN U.S.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time today to 
discuss an issue that is very important to me and, hopefully, to the 
Nation, and that is the issue of housing conditions of farm workers in 
this country.
  The Housing Assistance Council released their report on findings from 
a survey of farm worker housing conditions on September 20, 2001. 
Structural problems, broken appliances, overcrowded living conditions 
were common findings among farm workers' homes. Unfortunately, families 
with children are suffering the worst conditions.
  This survey is the first nationwide of farm worker housing in 20 
years and confirms what smaller studies and anecdotal descriptions have 
been saying all along; that is, farm workers work incredibly hard to 
put food on other people's tables, but all too often live in dismal 
conditions.
  The survey revealed that half of the homes surveyed were overcrowded, 
and three-quarters of those crowded units were occupied by families 
with children. Twenty-two percent lacked at least one functioning major 
appliance, such as stove, refrigerator, bathtubs or toilets; twenty-two 
percent had serious structural problems; and more than half lacked 
access to a working laundry machine.
  Children lived in two-thirds, or 65 percent, of the units classified 
as severely substandard; and 60 percent of the homes were adjacent to 
fields where pesticides were applied.
  I recognize that there are several needs that this country faces 
today, security being among the first, education, health care, 
nutrition and poverty. This study dramatizes many of those needs, and 
the main need being that hardworking Americans and their children 
should not be living in squalid and unhealthy conditions. These are 
housing conditions that none of us could stand to be in, not even for a 
second. Nobody should be subjected to such adversity.
  This major research project was conducted over a 3-year period, from 
1997 through 2000. Data on 4,625 housing units in 22 States and Puerto 
Rico were collected in a non-random survey by more than 100 outreach 
workers and 16 organizations that work with farm workers around the 
country, and analyzed by the Housing Assistance Council. Major funding 
was provided by USDA and HUD.
  I continue to be impressed by the quality and the content of this 
study and other studies conducted by HAC. After reading the study, I 
was appalled to learn that in America we still have such horrendous 
living conditions. We have made very little progress in this area. It 
is disheartening and disappointing that we live in such a rich country 
and do not make available decent housing to invited farm workers, where 
the law requires that we should, to those who are tilling our fields 
and picking the fruits and vegetables which help feed all our families.
  It is particularly worrisome to note that such a large proportion of 
farm worker families with children live adjacent to fields where 
pesticides are sprayed. This means that they are affected with long-
term effects in their families and in their bodies.
  I would like to focus on the fact that we do need more money to fund 
these programs, both the USDA as well as HUD. It is imperative that we 
recognize that many of these Federal programs, such as HUD, can assist 
our farm workers. On this floor, during the HUD administration 
appropriation, we voted against this. We should put monies back into 
HUD to make sure we assist in this program. The report clearly shows 
the need for a full-scale national study for farm workers, especially 
pertaining to housing, education, and health.
  I would like to reiterate my avid support for finding ways of funding 
the farm workers' housing needs, but also that there are many other 
programs that we need to commit ourselves to. I want to congratulate 
Housing Assistance Council, its executive director, for this document 
and the work it makes available for all of us who care about farm 
workers who work so hard.

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