President. two significant conclusions can be drawn from our hearings. First. not only do farmworkers not count. but they are not even counted. That migrants do not count is indicated by their position on the bottom rung of the economic ladder and their almost total exclusion from legislative and administrative programs at the Federal. State. and local level. They have practically no way of moving into the economic mainstream of the Nation. and with few exceptions. they have neither the political or economic power to improve their status. Worse yet. and in view of the tragic consequences of this exclusion from social and worker benefit programs. migrants are not counted. There is a dearth of demographic and other statistics that are routinely collected on all other segments of the population. Such data is practically nonexistent for the population group. and seriously hampers development of quality programs relevant to farmworker needs. Second. it was. for all practical purposes. admitted by the Departments of Labor and Agriculture that there are no effective manpower programs to meet the needs of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families. The bill presently under consideration constitutes an important first step in assuring that farmworkers will finally be able to participate in these important manpower programs. Thus. for the first time. over 1.000.000 migrant farmworkers and their families will have an oportunity to benefit from Federal manpower legislation. for their special needs are specifically recognized under the provisions of title VC of S. 3867. The U.S. Public Health Service has estimated that well over 1.000.000 farmworkers and family members are potential beneficiaries of the Migrant Health Program in 19671968. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that statistics indicating the location by States of these migrant families be printed in the RECORD at this point.
Keywords matched
migrant migrants Migrant