[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 85 (Thursday, May 22, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S4788]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JAMES S. HOLT

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I pay tribute to Dr. James S. Holt, who 
passed away on April 28, 2008.
  Dr. Holt was known to many Members of this Senate because of the 
outstanding contributions he made to developing sound Federal public 
policy related to agriculture, immigration, and employment. It was 
through his involvement in these issues before Congress that I got to 
know Jim and gained a tremendous respect for his wealth of knowledge 
and integrity--and especially his unwavering commitment to finding 
policy solutions that were correct, even if that meant they were also 
uncomfortable or difficult.
  Jim Holt received his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the 
Pennsylvania State University in 1965, and then served 16 years on the 
Penn State faculty as a professor of agricultural economics and farm 
management. From 1978 until the present, Dr. Holt headed his own 
consulting firm, as well as serving as senior economist to a 
Washington, DC, law firm, where his responsibilities included research, 
policy analysis, and government relations in matters related to labor, 
agriculture, immigration and animal welfare.
  Dr. Holt authored more than 70 publications and served agricultural 
clients in more than 30 States. Jim was a recognized expert with unique 
knowledge of the H-2A program and served as a consultant to national 
organizations such as the National Council of Agricultural Employers 
and the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform during his 
involvement in the major immigration and H-2A reform efforts in 
Congress during the past 30 years.
  I first became aware of Jim's expertise when he helped farmers in my 
own State of Idaho to establish the Snake River Farmers Association an 
organization that helps obtain legally authorized workers through the 
H-2A temporary and seasonal foreign agricultural worker program. 
Earlier this year in Idaho, at a meeting of the association, Jim and I 
teamed up again to address the grave labor situation facing Idaho 
farmers.
  I had the pleasure of working with Jim in the development of the 
AgJOBS legislation that I coauthored with Senators Feinstein and 
Kennedy. As my colleagues know, this bill has enjoyed broad bipartisan 
support and even passed the Senate in 2006. Jim brought his unique 
knowledge to the process of developing this historic legislation that 
brought together farm worker advocates and growers in an effort to 
provide a legal and stable agricultural workforce. During the past 
decade, Dr. Holt testified numerous times in both Chambers of Congress 
before the Committees on Agriculture, Judiciary, and Education and 
Labor in an effort to educate members on the importance of reforming 
our farm labor system and the severe economic consequences if we fail 
to do so. When we succeed in enacting the AgJOBS legislation and I am 
convinced that will ultimately happen--it will be in no small part 
because of the immeasurable effort Dr. Holt devoted to that cause over 
the past decade.
  On behalf of the policymakers who have worked with Jim Holt and 
benefited from his wise counsel over the years, I would like to express 
profound regret at his passing. He will be sorely missed. Let me extend 
my deepest sympathies to Jim's many friends and colleagues, and to the 
family he leaves behind.

                          ____________________