Speech #530131581

I rise in opposition to the amendment. Mr. Chairman. this amendment is the first time that we will now encounter the problem of combining the concerns that people have over domestic labor. and foreign labor in this country. and immigration reform. Unfortunately. I believe that both of these items. labor law requirements of this country and immigration reform. have been merged in this legislation. And here we have the situation where the Department of Labor historically has made a determination in this country about the need for foreign workers. There are guest workers. They come here legally. They come here for a specific economic purpose. which is to meet the demand of the growers in a particular crop and in a particular region of the country. We are not talking about illegal aliens. And the situation is this: that these are legal workers that we allow to come into the country to meet an unmet need in a specific crop or a specific region of the country. During that process. a grower or an association of growers will make application to the Department of Labor for these workers. Then the Department of Labor will make a certification that these workers first. are needed. second. that they will not have an adverse impact on domestic labor. or the job opportunities for American workers. and third. that they will be paid a wage so that the wage base of American workers will not be eroded. After that finding. they also make a determination of how long these guest workers will be needed to meet the needs of the application of the growers or the association of the growers. What we now see is an effort to take the Attorney General. who is responsible for issuing the visas. and letting the Attorney General determine the length of stay. What you would set up in motion at that point is something where you are simply talking about apples and oranges. if you will. You already have a Department of Labor certification that the need for these workers is real and it is for a specific period of time. therefore. the visa should flow. In some cases. workers are brought into regions for particular purposes. They might be brought into Florida to cut cane. into the Carolinas and Virginia and elsewhere to harvest apples or to Michigan to harvest apples. and to California for various crops that we have. or Texas or Arizona.