Speech #1090072136

I rise today to introduce. along with my friend and colleague Representative MARION BERRY of ArENSIONS OF REMARKS. Vol. 151. Pt. 15 kansas. the Temporary Agricultural Labor Reform Act of 2005. a bipartisan bill to reform the H2A guest worker program. As Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. I have traveled across the nation and seen firsthand that the H2A temporary visa process is not working. I have talked face to face with producers who have to deal with participating in a costly. timeconsuming and flawed program. For example. employers have to comply with a lengthy labor certification process that is slow. bureaucratic and frustrating. In addition. they are forced to pay an artificially inflated wage rate. My bill will streamline the cumbersome requirements of the current H2A program to make it a more viable option for our nations farmers. Likewise. as a longtime Member of the House Judiciary Committee. I understand the immigration problems that currently face our country. Illegal immigration penalizes those legal immigrants and citizens who play by the rules. It is estimated that there are over 10 million illegal aliens currently living in the United States. This population grows by over 350.000 each year. Clearly. this situation has reached crisis proportions and cannot be allowed to continue. Some believe that the only way to reform the guest worker program is by including amnesty provisions and allowing illegal aliens to adjust to Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status. However. this would create the wrong incentive by encouraging foreign nationals to come into the country and break our laws. Amnesty is unfair to those foreign nationals trying to comply with our laws and encourages more people to come into the U.S. illegally with the thought that they. too. will get rewarded for their illegal actions in the future. My bill would not grant an amnesty. Instead. it would require that anyone wishing to participate in the guest worker program must first return to their home country and apply from there to participate legally. This requirement will help us track who is entering our country and will create an incentive for those currently present illegally to return home and begin the process again while respecting our immigration laws. In addition. this legislation would address a troublesome wage issue. Employers. are required to pay an inflated wage called the Adverse Effect Wage Rate or AEWR.