[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 107 (Thursday, June 23, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3163-S3164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Warren, Mr. 
        Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. 
        Wyden, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Brown, and Mr. 
        Markey):
  S. 4480. A bill to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 
provide increased labor law protections for agricultural workers, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the 
Fairness for Farmworkers Act, which I introduced today.
  Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, farmworkers continued to 
keep our country going. This was especially true in California--the 
agricultural heart of the Nation. California is the most successful 
State in agricultural production and has the largest population of 
farmworkers. In fact, more than one-third of our country's vegetables 
and two-thirds of fruits and nuts come from California.
  During a time of incredible hardship, farmworkers put food on the 
tables of millions of Americans despite working in extreme conditions 
and facing deep-rooted inequities in the workforce. The time to address 
these inequities is now.
  While the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act established Federal standards 
for minimum wage and overtime pay, the law excluded millions of 
domestic and agricultural workers, who were overwhelmingly people of 
color.
  In 2016, California recognized the need to provide farmworkers with 
overtime protections. The California overtime law, which ensures 
farmworkers have an equal right to overtime pay, is a model for this 
Federal bill.
  Farmworkers in California and across the Nation deserve an end to 
discrimination in labor laws. As we work to rebuild from the pandemic, 
we must also undo the discriminatory exclusion of farmworkers by 
amending the Fair Labor Standards Act.
  That is why I am proud to introduce this bill, which will improve the 
lives of farmworkers and their families, create equity in our food 
system, and benefit farming communities as the increased wages are 
spent in local businesses.
  This bill will gradually implement overtime pay over the course of 4 
years and bring greater equity to the American agricultural industry 
and greater prosperity to historically marginalized workers.
  This legislation will also boost farming community economies as 
increased wages are spent in local businesses.
  I want to thank Representative Grijalva for joining me in introducing 
this bill, and I hope our colleagues will join us in support of this 
bill that would provide a measure of long overdue fairness for our 
Nation's farmworkers.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, the first thing you need to know about 
picking radishes is that it is hard work. You have to work literally on 
your knees, and you pick each radish out of the ground by hand--no 
machines, no tools.
  I learned how to pick radishes and parsley about 3 weeks ago when I 
received an invitation from the United Farm Workers and the UFW 
Foundation to spend a day working alongside them in California.
  Now, I have said countless times that, day in and day out, 
farmworkers show up to some of the hardest jobs in America. I have 
always believed that farmworkers are essential, but not until that day 
did I appreciate the physical demands of long hours on one's knees 
under the Sun.
  Many of the workers picking radishes are older than I am and have 
worked in the fields for decades. They have labored through heat waves, 
through storms, wildfire smoke, and more. They have labored through a 
global health pandemic, and they are the backbone of our economy in 
helping to keep food on our tables. Yet the majority of farmworkers 
don't have legal status to live and work in the United States of 
America. That includes those I worked alongside who were picking 
radishes--people like Efren, who has worked on American farms for more 
than 40 years, and Patricia, who has raised her children here.
  Several of them told me that one of the hardest parts of being 
undocumented was being cut off from their families in Mexico or in 
other countries, being denied the opportunity of seeing their mothers 
or their fathers one last time before passing away or being able to 
attend their funerals to pay their last respects.
  Imagine that heartbreaking choice of never seeing your parents again 
because doing so means risking not being able to see your children ever 
again. That is the fate that we are forcing on countless undocumented 
farmworkers who fill our grocery stores with fruits and vegetables. 
This is the choice that

[[Page S3164]]

we exacerbate every time we push immigration reform off for another 
month, another year, another session of Congress. And this is why we 
must pass legislation that creates a pathway to citizenship for 
farmworkers.
  Did you know that when you pick radishes, you get paid by the number 
of crates that you fill? On the day that I worked the fields, it comes 
as no surprise that I picked at a slower rate than the highly skilled 
and experienced farmworkers, who depend on speed for their livelihoods.
  Yet laws across the country leave farmworkers in a position of 
uncertainty that few other workers have to face. If you are a 
farmworker and you miss a day of work, there is no paid sick leave. If 
you are a farmworker and you are injured on the job, you can't get 
disability insurance. And living and working while undocumented means 
worrying constantly about your status.
  So when the Senate says that immigration reform can wait, we are not 
seeing the people whose lives are at stake: Isidro, Armando, Isabel, 
Epigemio. As they pick radishes, these workers are not taking jobs from 
American citizens. I repeat: They are not taking the jobs of American 
citizens. In fact, the opposite is true. We don't have enough 
farmworkers to meet the demand, not just for radishes but for countless 
other crops. As different produce comes into season, growers need 
skilled labor on tight timelines.
  Corporate leaders, small business owners, and economists agree that 
we need more immigrants with more protections. The stakes for our 
economy are high. Right now, American families are paying higher prices 
not just at the gas pump but at the grocery store. Our labor shortage 
is contributing to higher inflation. Over $1 trillion of America's GDP 
is linked to agriculture.
  All across the Nation, we rely on immigrant farmworkers. In North 
Carolina, agriculture is the top industry, aided by tens of thousands 
of undocumented workers in growing soybean, corn, and peanuts. In 
Idaho, agriculture accounts for 17 percent of the economic output, 
including a booming dairy industry. Around 90 percent of Idaho's dairy 
workers are foreign born, the vast majority undocumented. In Texas, 
agriculture is worth more than $20 billion each year. More than 100,000 
immigrant workers, mostly undocumented, are employed on Texas's 
ranches, farms, and fields.
  I can go on and on, but I think the point is clear: This is truly a 
national issue. The majority of all farmworkers lack legal status, and 
growers say that more help is needed.
  Congress can make a difference. We can do so by passing the laws that 
farmworkers need and deserve. Our country cannot afford to wait. That 
is why it was the first bill I introduced--the Citizenship for 
Essential Workers Act--when I joined the Senate last year. I am talking 
about the workers who keep us healthy and safe and fed, the workers we 
as the Federal Government have deemed to be essential. They deserve 
dignity; they deserve respect; and they have earned a pathway to 
citizenship.
  Today, I am also proud to introduce the Fairness for Farmworkers Act. 
This bill will support fair pay for agricultural workers under the Fair 
Labor Standards Act.
  In 1 day, I had just a small dose of the physically demanding life of 
a farmworker. Still, there is so much more that I could tell you about 
the kind, funny, generous individuals whom I worked alongside that day.
  As we shared a lunch of homemade tortillas, beans, and carne con 
chiles, they told me about their hometowns that they miss, their 
favorite music, and their dreams for their children. They had one more 
message that they asked me to deliver, that they implored me to deliver 
to all of you, and that is that you should come too. I was the first 
U.S. Senator to accept an invitation to work in the fields. Last week, 
my friend and colleague Senator Booker became the second.
  I urge you, each and every Member of the Senate, to take this 
opportunity, take a day to work alongside the heroes who feed America, 
and then come back here, as I have, humbled and inspired to do our job. 
Let's come together behind a solution so farmworkers can finally live 
and work with dignity and security.
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