[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 1, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6257-S6258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SEASONAL WORK PERMITS

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I want to take a minute this morning to 
talk about an issue that has been of some concern for us in Wyoming, as 
the Presiding Officer knows, for some time; yet we have not been able 
to move forward on it. It has to do with work permits that allow people 
to come and work for a seasonal time, for a relatively short time, in 
our case, generally, for the tourism around Yellowstone Park.
  In that business, they have offered these jobs to anyone, of course, 
over the years, but they have been filled largely by people coming from 
other countries--mostly Mexico--for a fairly short period of time on 
what is called an H-2B visa. This is a category of visa that allows for 
seasonal and temporary nonagricultural workers to come. These workers 
are employed in all kinds of industries that include fisheries, timber, 
hotels, restaurants, and others. Even ice skating shows have been 
talked about recently.
  Businesses must file a petition with the State department of labor to 
certify that no local workers are available. They have always done 
that, of course. Workers are certified for a specific period of time. 
When that time has expired, they must return to their home country. I 
think this program has been in place for a good long time. I think it 
is one of the unique ones where there has been a record of returning.
  One of the problems is--and this has come up as a problem, of course, 
in the last several months or a year--there has been a lot of 
conversation about illegal immigrants in this country, and properly so. 
There has been a great deal of conversation about outsourcing and 
paying less because you can get people to come from other places. Those 
things are true, but they are not applicable in this particular 
instance because, No. 1, these people are certified to be here. They go 
back when the time is over.

  In the past, they have been able to come back on the same permit over 
a period of time. It has kind of worked that way. The wages have been 
reasonable wages paid in these particular areas. It is a fact and it is 
true that the jobs are not always the kind of jobs that a lot of young 
people want in our country. They are working in hotels and motels; 
nevertheless, they are jobs that are available and reasonably paid.
  I think, though, because of the situation we have had and other kinds 
of problems with immigrants and illegals, this has become a more 
realistic issue than it would have been otherwise. This year, the 
number of H-2Bs was capped, and the number happened to be 66,000 per 
year. The fact is, this is really the first time that cap has been 
enforced. It is the first time people have ever thought in terms of a 
cap. Much of it had to do with the timing. People were talking, as our 
folks do in Jackson, about the summer season. They had not worried too 
much about doing this until the spring when they have traditionally 
done it; and it turns out that because of the cap, those numbers had 
been reached in other places. Therefore, it excluded the involvement of 
any more H-2Bs.
  This is not an issue that is unique particularly to Wyoming. Other 
States, such as New Hampshire, Maine, Alaska, Virginia, Ohio, and North 
Carolina, have specifically spoken out as we have about the problem 
that exists in Wyoming.
  Last year, they had petitions roughly for 1,800 workers in Wyoming. 
About 1,600 went, as I mentioned, to Jackson Hole. So we tried to find 
a solution to this situation because it seemed, more than anything, to 
be a question of timing. If we are going to have a limit, that is fine, 
but the limit ought to be known so that people, if they are going to 
need workers in the summer, can make application at an appropriate time 
earlier in the year so that the timing is not an issue. That is the way 
it has been this year.
  So for the last number of months, since we all heard about this--the 
first was in March before we even knew about the limit--the Senators 
and staff have been working to address this issue in a fair and 
consistent manner, to make good immigration policy. None of us are 
looking for illegal immigrants who are trying to extend illegal 
opportunities. This is a program that has been in place, has been 
useful, and has been legal. These are legal people who come and then 
they return, so the question of illegal immigration doesn't really fit 
in here.
  So I need to make the point that this is something that we could 
proceed with. As a matter of fact, there have been opportunities in the 
Senate to move forward, and many suggestions that have been made are 
reasonable. I am trying to emphasize the fact that we need to move to 
do this and not simply write off the 2004 season. I will have to admit 
it is now very late and people are looking for other ways to fill these 
spots, and some of them can be, and that is fine.
  I was in Wyoming this weekend at a place where they have similar 
seasons. They had set up a parking lot beside this motel where people 
could bring their trailers and their travel vehicles and stay there 
during the summer. These were older folks, pretty much retired, who 
wanted to work part time in the summer, and they would bring their 
trailer and stay. Some of the jobs can be filled that way, and they 
are. The fact is, businesses are going to be hurt if we don't do 
something. Certainly, we need to do that. There are some propositions 
that have been put forward on the Senate floor. We have had a couple 
folks objecting to them, so nothing has been done.

  I think it is time. If people want to change the proposition, they 
can do that if they are comfortable with it. But we ought to move 
forward with the problem, which we can fix or require to be fixed or 
ask to be fixed, so that there is a reasonable opportunity for people 
to continue in the business of doing the same thing they have been 
doing, where now they are prohibited because of the timing proposition.
  So I am hopeful we can continue to take a look at it. If it is too 
late for this year, I am sorry, but we ought to fix it now. But if we 
are not able to fix it this year, we will know what we are faced with 
for the next year. I understand the system in the Senate, but it is too 
bad when we have something that affects most people, and it can be held 
up and not allowed to even be discussed and moved forward. I think this 
is under the leadership of the Senator from Utah.
  Mr. President, I wanted to share some thoughts on that issue instead 
of waiting and letting this continue to be

[[Page S6258]]

a problem in another season. Perhaps there is still time in some cases 
to be of assistance in this season. It is a plan and a program that has 
been in place and has worked over the years. We need to continue to 
allow people to participate in that plan.
  I urge us to move forward and address the problem and make some kind 
of solution and not let it just die out and impact visitors, as well as 
employees and employers, in places such as Jackson, WY, and other 
places where people come for the summer.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. As a Senator from the State of Wyoming, I ask 
unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________