Speech #890130762

To me the answer is definitely "yes." Until recent years. supplemental farm labor programs worked smoothly and reasonably well although persistent efforts were made to use them as vehicles for achieving purposes never intended by Congress. Beginning this year. however. the Secretary of Labor made a sharp change in his policies and procedures in connection with issuing clearance orders for workers. He has imposed numerous onerous requirements as a condition to presenting a petition for workers to the Commissioner of Immigration. Just to cite one. he has required the payment of a minimum wage in several States. in excess of that established by Congress for industry. This has never been authorized by Congress. and in fact. agriculture has been expressly exempt from the Wage and Hour Act. Not only have farmers been saddled with extremely burdensome regulations. but the Secretary of Labor has taken the position that foreign. supplemental. agricultural labor should be excluded. He attempted to support this position by the strange theory that the Congress by not extending his authority under Public Law 78. under which Mexican nationals formerly entered this country. somehow nullified the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality ActPublic Law 414authorizing the importation of needed workers. The Department of Labor has consistently misconstrued congressional intent with respect to supplemental labor programs. It has constantly maintained that Congress intended. by not extending Public Law 78. to discontinue making available supplemental agricultural labor to American farmers under other law provided for that purpose. which law is still on the books. In his statement covering his December 19. 1964 regulations. the Secretary of Labor said with respect to the action of the 88th Congress in extending Public Law 78 to the end of 1964: The users of braceros were put on notice that this supply of foreign labor was. by Congress decision. to be cut off. He further declared in the same statement that the issuance of the December 19 regulations under the immigration law "does not imply that there will be any largescale use of foreign workers in the future. To the contrary. it is expected that such use will be very greatly reduced and. hopefully. eliminated." Subsequently. during the hearings before the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry on January 15 and 16. 1965. Mr. Wirtz attributing to Congress an intent to nullify the Immigration and Nationality Act said on page 66 of the hearings: Or in short. Congress stopped this law (Public Law 78) and the rest of the legal point is that it will not be reinstated by administrative action through the back door. I presume he was speaking of the immigration law in his reference to "the back door." Later in his testimony following rather intensive questioning he did admit that the provisions of the Immigration Act clearly authorized the admission of supplemental farm workers and could be used for that purpose. Notwithstanding this admission. the Department of Labor persists in contending that Congress intended to cutoff needed supplies of supplemental farm workers. On August 22. the regional administrator of the U.S.