Speech #820165424

I was not present when the Senator from Illinois offered his amendment. but I am familiar with the conferences and the discussions which led up to the bill. It was originally my own bill. and it then became the bill of the Senator from West Virginia and myself. and finally the bill of the Senator from Mississippi. Several departments of the Government. including the Immigration Service. foreign labormanagement groups. the cooperatives. and several others. agreed upon its provisions. The only reason. as I recall. for the absence of language similar to that which the Senator from Illinois now presents. which was contained in my original bill. was that a problem might arise. for instance. in California. where on a truck farm of 300 or 400 acres a great number of cheap laborers might be employed. and the employer would have to rely upon the contractor who transports the laborers in a truck. It might cause a hardship where great numbers come in trucks. and the employer. under the language of the Senators amendment. might be in technical violation of the law and technically guilty of a felony.