[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 74 (Tuesday, May 6, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3785-S3786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     AGRICULTURAL TEMPORARY WORKERS

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, every spring season brings many demands 
on the time of farmers and ranchers in my home State of Wyoming.
  They are busy tending to their livestock, newly born calves and 
lambs, and planting their crops. Many of them rely on the H-2A program 
to find seasonal and temporary skilled workers to assist them in their 
time-honored work.
  This program is vital to Wyoming's agricultural industry. That is why 
I joined my friend Senator Enzi in asking the Department of Labor to 
extend the public comment period on its proposed rule changes to the 
program.
  Many Wyoming employers have not had an opportunity to fully review 
the proposed changes. I recognize that improvement in the program is 
needed. We must improve its efficiency for both workers and employers.
  Recently, there was a very thoughtful editorial which was printed in 
the Wyoming Livestock Roundup on April 12.
  The editorial was written by Bryce Reece. Bryce is the executive 
vice-president of the Wyoming Woolgrowers Association and I believe he 
does a terrific job of summing up the feelings of all Wyoming farmers 
and ranchers.
  I recommend it to my colleagues and ask that it be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 Comment Quickly on Immigration Reform

                            (By Bryce Reece)

       Apparently frustrated with Congress and its lack of action 
     regarding our immigration laws, the Bush administration has 
     decided to reform some aspects of our system 
     administratively.
       On Feb. 13 the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a 47-page 
     proposal to amend regulations regarding nonimmigrant workers 
     employed in temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs. 
     Contractual enforcement of nonimmigrant workers and employer 
     responsibilities are also addressed. These proposed changes 
     would supposedly ``re-engineer'' the process by which 
     employers may obtain temporary labor certification from the 
     DOL for use in petitioning the Department of Homeland 
     Security (DHS) to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2A 
     (agricultural temporary worker) status.
       Workers from outside the U.S. are not only vital to Wyoming 
     and the nation's sheep industry, but are becoming 
     increasingly important to all of Wyoming's livestock 
     industry. As importantly, they are vital to all of U.S. 
     agriculture. As the DOL noted in its proposal, ``Data from 
     the National Agricultural Worker Survey (NAWS) . . . shows 
     that in 2006, 19 percent of all agricultural workers were 
     first-time U.S. farm workers.'' Among the new workers, 85 
     percent were foreign-born and 15 percent were U.S. citizens. 
     A new worker is defined as anyone with less than a year's 
     experience.
       Legally bringing in workers from outside of the United 
     States is a laborious, tedious, time-consuming and expensive 
     proposition. This statement has become increasingly true 
     since 9/11. Increased and heightened security has made the 
     process a bureaucratic and administrative maze, one that many 
     employers are on the verge of abandoning. Faced with the 
     increased difficulty of compliance, smothering and draining 
     regulations and a seemingly endless parade of federal 
     bureaucrats throwing up roadblocks, it's hard for people in 
     the countryside trying to run a business and do things right.

[[Page S3786]]

       A lack of U.S. workers interested in or seeking employment 
     in agriculture has compounded the problem. While those in 
     agriculture have seemed to be ``crying in the wilderness'' 
     about this worker shortage, some have been listening. Senator 
     Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) recently highlighted the unique 
     labor needs of agriculture and the importance of foreign 
     labor in a September 2006 floor statement: ``We have one 
     million people who usually work in agriculture. I must tell 
     you they are dominantly undocumented. Senator Craig pointed 
     out the reason they are undocumented is because American 
     workers will not do the jobs. When I started this I did not 
     believe it, so we called all the welfare departments of the 
     major agriculture counties in California and asked--can you 
     provide agricultural workers? Not one worker came from the 
     people who were on welfare who were willing to do this kind 
     of work.''
       The program, which is most commonly used in Wyoming for 
     bringing in foreign workers, is called the ``H-2A Program.'' 
     The H-2A worker visa program provides a means for U.S. 
     agricultural employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary 
     basis. They fill a labor niche that cannot be met in the U.S. 
     The H-2A program is vital to the western sheep industry; 
     and, it is the H-2A program that has become a nightmare 
     for agricultural producers looking to bring foreign 
     workers to the U.S. legally. It is the H-2A program that 
     the DOL is proposing to modify and ``fix.''
       Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) summarized the problem this 
     way: ``[T]his economic sector, more than any other, has 
     become dependent for its existence on the labor of immigrants 
     who are here without legal documentation. The only program 
     currently in place to respond to a lack of legal domestic 
     agricultural workers, the H-2A guest worker program, is 
     profoundly broken. Outside of H-2A, farm employers have no 
     effective, reliable assurance that their employees are legal. 
     We all want and need a stable, predictable, legal workforce 
     in American agriculture. Willing American workers deserve a 
     system that puts them first in line for available jobs with 
     fair market wages. All workers should receive decent 
     treatment and protection of fundamental legal rights. 
     Consumers deserve a safe, stable, domestic food supply. 
     American citizens and taxpayers deserve secure borders and a 
     government that works. Last year, we saw millions of dollars' 
     worth of produce rot in the fields for lack of workers. We 
     are beginning to hear talk of farms moving out of the 
     country, moving to the foreign workforce. All Americans face 
     the danger of losing more and more of our safe, domestic food 
     supply to imports. Time is running out for American 
     agriculture, farm workers, and consumers. What was a problem 
     years ago is a crisis today and will be a catastrophe if we 
     do not act immediately.''
       In the proposal out for comment, DOL claims its purpose in 
     re-engineering the H-2A program and the resulting outcomes 
     will be:
       Simplify the process by which employers obtain a labor 
     certification.
       Increase employer accountability to further protect against 
     violations of program and worker standards.
       Efficiencies in program administration that will 
     significantly encourage increased program participation, 
     resulting in an increased legal farm worker labor.
       U.S. workers will be better protected from adverse effects 
     when they are competing with workers who are legally present 
     in the U.S. and who are subject to all of the requirements of 
     the H2-A program.
       Institute a new auditing process to verify that employers 
     have, in fact, met their responsibilities under the H2-A 
     program.
       Alter the current H2-A housing inspection procedures.
       The devil is always in the details, however, and we have 
     identified several areas within the proposed changes where 
     more harm than good could occur. Several agricultural groups 
     have joined forces to analyze and prepare comments on these 
     proposed changes.
       The WWGA is asking all agriculture supporters and 
     particularly employers who currently, or may in the future, 
     utilize the H-2A program, to comment. Comments can be 
     submitted electronically, which is the quickest and least 
     expensive method.
       For those wishing to secure a copy of the proposed changes, 
     they can be found at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/
component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=ETA-2008-0001 (click on 
     one of the icons in the first row under ``views'').
       With comments due on a very short timeline, April 14, we 
     have posted helpful information including sample comments on 
     our website at www.wyowool.org. Diane Carpenter in our office 
     and I would also be glad to answer questions from those 
     submitting comments on this tremendously important effort.

                          ____________________