Speech #910335870

Mr. President. there are more than a million migrant farmworkers laboring in fields across America. living in abject poverty and misery. The life expectancy of a migrant worker is less than twothirds the life expectancy of other farmworkers. They suffer from infectious and parasitic diseases at a rate two to five times greater. tuberculosis 17 times greater. venereal disease 18 times greater. and worms 35 times greater than the average American. As a rule. migrant workers and their children receive no dental care whatever. The only exception is sometimes the employer of migrant workers suffering from toothaches permit hired dentists to extract the teeth no thought being given to filling the cavities. In many communities children of migrant workers are not permitted to attend school. The most schooling any migrant workers boy or girl is usually able to attain ends on or before the eighth grade. In fact. 17 percent of the migrant workers are illiterate. The children help their parents by working in the fields. The children of migrant workers for the very reason their parents work in the fields in various parts of the country are deprived of educational opportunities. School boards in many communities do not permit the children of migrant workers to attend the first grades in their schools. The parents. as a rule. need them to help in the migrant labor so that the family will have a bare living wage. The fact is. Mr. President. migrant labor should be regulated on a national level else such labor should not be tolerated. The facts are that more than a million migrant farmworkers will harvest crops that will feed Americans for the coming year. It is evident these migrant workers by their hard work are needed to help harvest crops. Therefore there must be national legislation enforced to provide decent conditions for migrant workers and their families. Mr. President. in my State of Ohio alone. there are approximately 33.000 migrant farmworkers. The State of Ohio has an agricultural industry which runs over $1 billion annually. Migrant workers are the source of much of the labor used to harvest Ohios strawberry. sugar beet. celery. pickle. tomatoes. peaches. and grape crops. During the month of September. the peak season in Ohio. more than 16.500 migrant farmworkers usually toil in the farm fields of my State. Half of these workers are usually under 25 years of age. Onefourth of them were between 14 and 17. Migrant workers invariably have a short life span. According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics. migrant workers receive an annual wage lower than of of any other income group in the country. In 1970. they worked an average of 78 days a year. and they averaged a meager annual salary of $891. This is approximately $30 less than the average migrant salary for 1967 and 1968. Their pitiful income is in shabby contrast to the earnings of American factory workers. The basic necessities of food and clothing consume all of their meager paychecks and more. Because of their youth or lack of education. most migrant workers and their youngsters have no awareness or interest in the political process. They move from county to county. and from State to State. They have no representatives or senators in the State legislatures or in the U.S.