Mr. President. the compelling plight of migrant laborers in the United States is a national disgrace that we can no longer afford to Ignore. They live in a twilight world of hunger. abject poverty and lack of opportunity in the midst of plenty. More than 115.000 migrant farmworkers are today laboring in fields across America. That number will swell to almost a quarter million as summer approaches. and before the end of the year 1 million peoplemen. women and childrenwill have been so employed. They will work in all of the States and will harvest the crops that will feed Americans for the coming year. They and frequently their wives and children engage in the hardest sort of "back breaking" manual labor. Migrant farm laborers work an average of 85 days a year and they average a meager total salary of only $922. Their pitiful income is in shabby contrast to the average earnings of American factory workers. Clothing and food consume all of their meager paychecks and more. In my State of Ohio more than 33.000 migrant workers labor in 24 counties from May through November. For the most part. they harvest tomatoes and sugar beets working long hours on their hands and knees for the lowest wages paid to any sizable economic group in the State. They work an average of 92 days and earn an average of but $980 a year.
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