Speaker. the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 has an ironic name since. contrary to the recommendation of a Federal commission. one provision of it would give a special exemption from Federal unemployment tax to agricultural employers who give jobs to temporary foreign workers. If the U.S. Congress intends to protect American jobs for American workers. then it should not approve the proposed exemption for employers of H2A Program guestworkers. The Federal Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation in 1994 made a specific recommendation on this issue after hearing all the evidence and from all the parties. The Advisory Council said. - *.. the wages of alien agriculturat workers (H2A workers) should be subject to FUTA taxes." The chairperson of that Council was Janet Norwood. the highly respected former Chief of the Bureau of Labor Statistics under the Bush and Reagan administrations. We in Congress gave the H2A growers a temporary exemption from the Federal Unemployment Tax Act [FUTA] and that exemption was extended repeatedly. Finally. on December 31. 1994. we let this tax exemption expire. after receiving the recommendation and report of the Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation. Now the growers who hire temporary foreign workers want another exemption from the unemployment tax.