Speech #910216802

President. each year approximately 1 million agricultural workers and their families migrate from State to State in response to seasonal demands for farm labor. For brief periods they live and work in nearly onethird of the Nations counties. These migrant farmworkers are not commuters. They travel so far from their home that they are. in effect. temporary residents of the areas in which they work. These people are too poor to purchase the medical care they need. Yet. they generally fail to qualify as legal residents in their temporary work communities and are thus excluded from the community service available to other indigents. The health problems of these migrants are much greater than those of the general public. The nature of their work and their migratory patterns result in a very high incidence of such ailments as ear infections. allergies. hernias. nutritional deficiencies. poisonings. diarrhea. and intestinal parasites. Despite the high incidence of disease. visits to health practioners are much fewer for the migrants than for the general public. For example. visits to physicians are only about oneseventh the national average. and visits to dentists are only about onetwentieth the national average. More significantly. deaths among migrant workers and their families resulting from infectious diseases. accidents. and diseases of early infancy are from one and onehalf to three times the national average. To meet these obvious health needs. Congress in 1962 enacted legislation providing for grants to State agencies for family health services. This program of aid now supports 117 single or multicounty projects located in 35 States and Puerto Rico. An estimated 325.000 migrants lived for at least part of last year in counties served by these projects. A total of 210.000 medical visits and 28.000 dental visits were made. 3.600 migrants were hospitalized. and 160.000 casefinding and healthcounseling visits were made by nurses and other agencies. Much more needs to be done. and with more money much more could be done. under this program. Less than onethird of this Nations migrants have access to these health services. because there are simply not enough funds allocated to the program. On March 12 of this year a bill was signed into law extending this program and authorizing increased appropriations for the next 3 fiscal years: $20 million is authorized for fiscal year 1971. $25 million for 1972. and $30 million for 1973. Despite these increased authorizations. and despite the obvious need for more funds. the administration is proposing to keep the migrant health program at its current level. Only $15 million is requested by the administration budget for 1971 instead of the $20 million which is authorized. Mr. President. the health needs of migrant agricultural workers and their families are among the greatest of any socioeconomic group in this Nation. I therefore urge that the migrant health program be fully funded for fiscal year