Barbara Boxer: “Well, Mr. President, we have a very narrow bill before us, the border fence bill, which we cannot broaden; and that is…”

“Well, Mr. President, we have a very narrow bill before us, the border fence bill, which we cannot broaden; and that is why I opposed cloture on that bill. I do not oppose building a fence where you need to do it, where the border is porous. I do not have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is this narrow approach to the immigration issue which precludes us from truly fixing our problems. We are ignoring a lot of problems in this Congress, but I will tell you what is emerging as an enormous problem, and that is, the problem that farms are having all across this country because we have neglected to take care of the issue of farm labor. In California, our farm community is in serious trouble. I sat with my dairy folks, my ranchers, my farmers. We grow over 80 crops in our State. Senator Feinstein was eloquent in laying out how huge an industry it is. These are folks who never come to me with fear in their eyes. They are frightened because their crops are dying on the vine and in the fields across the State of California, and from what I have heard, in other States as well. This is tragic for us. We could lose these farmers. We could lose agriculture. And we have a chance--Senator Craig, Senator Feinstein, and I, and others, have teamed up and said: Let's use this opportunity to broaden our approach.”