[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19290]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO FARMWORKER APPRECIATION DAY--FREMONT, OHIO

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                          HON. PAUL E. GILLMOR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 23, 2003

  Mr. GILLMOR. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise today to 
pay special tribute to an outstanding event taking place in my district 
in Northwest Ohio. Saturday, August 2, 2003, people from across Ohio's 
Fifth Congressional District will gather in Fremont to celebrate 
Farmworker Appreciation Day.
  There is no question that farming is the backbone of our nation. From 
the earliest days of our nation's history, hardworking men and women 
have taken to the fields to plant and harvest crops and raise livestock 
in order to feed their families, their neighbors, and their fellow 
countrymen.
  Mr. Speaker, farming is an honorable profession that takes a great 
deal of skill, patience, and hard work. Those hardworking men and women 
who work on our nation's farms deserve much credit for helping to make 
our lands productive and fruitful.
  Through the arduous process of working and cultivating the soil, 
these farmworkers help prepare the ground, plant the crops, and harvest 
the food we need to live. The lifestyle of a farmworker is tough. Like 
the farmer, the farmworker must endure the ever-changing seasons from 
the harshest winters to sun drying, waterless droughts to rain-soaked 
days that lead to disastrous floods. farmworkers watch the fields as 
thunderous storms race across them damaging the crops from which they 
make their living. However, through it all, farmworkers continue to the 
fields to do their work.
  Mr. Speaker, agriculture is vitally important to the Fifth District 
of Ohio as we are home to nineteen percent of Ohio's farmland. We know 
that the economy of our part of Ohio depends on farming. The prosperity 
of my district is dependent in large part upon the tireless efforts of 
the farmworkers who bring in the crops. I can think of no better way to 
celebrate the contributions of these individuals than to take part in 
farmworker Appreciation Day.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying special tribute 
to farmworkers by helping me proclaim August 2, 2003 as farmworker 
Appreciation Day. We thank them for all they have done and wish them 
the very best for the future.

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