Session #88 · 1963–65

Speech #880247548

Mr. President. since the bracero law is due for extinction in 1964. the Oregon growers might better have been challenged by the Governor to respond in a more positive manner to a labor market made up exclusively of domestic workers. One can be sure that other growers around the country. competing for the best and most experienced migrant workers. will not limit their response to the demise of Public Law 78 to such negative actions. For example. the growers of the San Joaquin Valley in California have already undertaken a fourpoint program: first. to train domestic farmworkers. second. reschedule the time of farm operationssuch as planting and harvestingin order to spread out labor requirements as much as possible on a yearround basis. third. change crop patterns to help accomplish the same thingsthat is. reduce the labor peaks of highly seasonal crops and thereby extend employment. fourth. coordinate these activities among association members in the interest of diversity and efficiency. Vigorous and forwardlooking leadership in Oregon might come up with a similar program adapted to the agricultural picture found there. It is particularly disappointing that Oregon should be associated with a measure which is so retrogressive in nature. Oregon. after all. has a hard earned but justly merited reputation as one of the best States in the Union for protections. educational facilities. conditions for employment. and wages for migrant laborers. As an illustration of the responsible manner in which Oregon has heretofore met its obligations to provide certain basic services for those who reside within its borders. I would like to mention migrant education. Poverty begets poverty and one of the most tragic examples of the consequences of poverty of opportunity is the lack of education of migrant children. We hear much about school dropouts. but far too many migrant children have hardly even had the chance to drop in to school. In an age which increasingly looks to the university bachelors degree as a minimum requirement for success. migrant children have been nonstarters in the competition of life. Perhaps the most bitter wine from the grapes of wrath has been that the son must follow in the dusty track of the father because he is not qualified by education or training to do anything else. That this should be the case in a land with the opportunity and wealth of our great Nation is a travesty of our national hope and heritage. and Oregon has taken the lead in trying to break through this vicious circle by a comprehensive educational program for migrant children. To best illustrate what is being done in Oregon I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the RECORD the following excerpts from the "Report on the Education of Migrant Children in Oregon" prepared by Ronald G. Petrie. supervisor of Migrant Education for Oregon.
Keywords matched
migrant Migrant

Classification

Target group
None Specific
Also mentioned
domestic workers migrant workers
Sentiment
Neutral
Stereotyping
No
Confidence
80%
Model
gemini-2.0-flash
Framing
Economic contributor Legal / procedural

Speaker & context

Speaker
MAURINE NEUBERGER
Party
D
Chamber
S
State
OR
Gender
F
Date
Speech ID
880247548
Paragraph
#0
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