Speech #1090179536

I do not think that is in the benefit of the American people. whether it is the American farmer or whether it is those people who are here legally trying to become citizens in the right way. Secondly. there is an issue relative to the wage rate. Now we have the adverse effect wage rate under the H2A program. which is not fair. It is not equitable to farmers in North Dakota versus farmers in Georgia. versus farmers in California and Idaho. In the recent immigration reform package we had on the floor. we sought to amend that bill to include what is known as a prevailing wage. "prevailing wage" being a wage that is determined by the Department of Labor to be applicable to agricultural workers in certain regions within a State. rather than in regions of the country. It is fair. It is equitable. We need to have that prevailing wage provision put into whatever amendment we make to the H2A program. Also. the AgJOBS bill does not eliminate what we call the 50percent rule. Every farmer who uses H2A knows and understands exactly what I am talking about and knows what a hindrance this is to them because. under AgJOBS. they would be forced to hire what is called a blue card worker who is treated like a U.S. worker for hiring purposes. If he shows up at the farm before 50 percent of the work is complete. then even though the farmer has an H2A worker here. he has to send that individual back to wherever he came from and hire that domestic person or that blue card person under the AgJOBS program. It gets complicated. but those folks who have been involved in this know exactly what I am talking about. What we should make sure of is that at the end of the day we have a program that is fair to farmers. that is fair to Americanswhether they are folks who are here looking for work in agriculture or whether they are folks who are trying to become citizens of this country in a lawful way. in the way that is set forth in our Constitutionthat we should make sure we provide our farmers with a quality pool of workers from which to choose. and that we make sure our farmers are required to pay those individuals a fair wage and are required to either provide them housing or provide them a housing allowance. so while they are here working on their farms we do not have to worry about where they are out in the communities. and that they are able to take care of themselves while they are here. All of these issues are critically important parts of any immigration reform package we take up. So I simply urge again my friends who want to give these folks who come to work in agriculture a pathway to citizenship that we sit down at the table and work out these differences. Lets amend H2A and accomplish the goal we all have in common. Mr. President.