Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise to support the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which is an opportunity to provide meaningful reform that we have been waiting for, for years. This measure is supported by a bipartisan coalition that includes not only the United Farm Workers and other labor organizations, but a majority of farm organizations across the country. What this is really about is an opportunity to fix a part of a broken immigration system. I want to thank not only Chairman Nadler, but also Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren and Dan Newhouse for the hard work that they have done to bring this legislation to the floor, bipartisan support on both sides of the aisle. Let me begin with the fact that food is a national security issue. It is a national security issue. Less than 5 percent of America's population is directly involved in the production of food and fiber that feeds our Nation. That partnership is between farmworkers and farmers and dairy men and women. I know because my family represents a third-generation family. Farmworkers are some of the hardest working individuals you will ever meet. I know because I worked side by side for years growing up on my family's farm. It is simply wrong that they be subject to living and working under a shadow of uncertainty and fear of being deported. That is not right. This bill is not about the border. The border has been a problem for decades. It is not about amnesty. This is an earned basis to have legal status in America.…”