He still refused to leave the trailer. A magistrate wrote out an order requiring the family to leave. but it was not enforced. "Friends of Farmerworkers." then entered the picture and threatened the farmer with a lawsuit. While he had technically not done anything wrong. he finally paid the migrant worker $650 in damages. His total legal fees for this case and another case in which he was involved at the same time was $25.000. While these issues needed to be addressed. they did not require lawsuits. There are. of course. more serious cases involving questionable claims. however. several of them are still in litigation and I cannot discuss them in detail. Mr. Speaker. migrant labor is important in the 19th Congressional District. Farmers need the migrant workers and the workers need the farmers. Farmers know if they abuse the workers. they will not get a good days work for a days pay. There is every reason for them to try to work things out. In fact. most of my farmers would be quite willing to negotiate with the migrant workers and their attorneys and avoid court proceedings. Negotiation. however. does not appear to be on the agenda of the advocacy groups funded through the Legal Services Corporation. At this point. the farmers dont trust the workers and the workers dont trust the farmersand some of these individuals worked together harmoniously for years before Legal Services came on the scene. The sad part of this situation is that for every farmer that goes out of business because of unnecessary lawsuits. numerous migrant worker become unemployed. Before lawsuits are filed. we need to require that administrative remedies be exhausted. This action protects the farmers and the farmworkers alike.