Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my colleagues, Mr. Buck and Ms. Lofgren, for attempting to do something to solve a problem that has gone on for a long time that has not been solved. Unfortunately, this bill will not solve that problem. This bill will create the same situation we have had since 1986, because this bill focuses on amnesty, not on a guest worker program that our producers need. I appreciate their efforts, but, again, I have worked around agriculture since I was 15, picking vegetables, loading vegetables, talking to farmers. And as a veterinarian, working for 30 years in that profession, I know the dairy situation. I have talked to the migrant, and I have talked producer. This bill will not fulfill that need. This bill will allow people to get amnesty. They will leave agriculture and they will go into another industry. Therefore, they are not going to solve the labor shortage of this country. That is why there are alternatives out there. We have got a bill that we worked on in a bipartisan manner, that we have got strong support in industry, and it solves this problem. It creates a dedicated workforce for agriculture. As you go through this bill, you see amnesty after amnesty. And, again, it does not solve the problem. Our bill allows people to enter the country legally. They are automatically enrolled in the E-Verify system. This bill promises to put the E-Verify system in place once it is implemented. We have heard that rhetoric out of Washington before.…”