Political Quotes

“there is a no-spin zone in my district called Radams. As a family-owned agriculture supply store, this is a place where normally 40 to 50 farmers and growers meet every morning before the sun comes up to talk about the issues of the day. I was there last Friday, and the mood was not a happy one because we all learned the day before the Judiciary Committee had marked up this immigration bill, and I do not think there was a single hearing on that bill. I am one that does not believe you can do a broad, bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill without including provisions related to guest workers. My district is a microcosm of the country. That means I have agriculture. In fact, I have a ton of fruit and vegetable growers, and they rely on good, migrant labor to harvest their crops, starting with asparagus in the spring, going through apples in the fall. None of those family operators, none of them, can survive without migrant or seasonal workers. Many have between 50 and 150 workers. Yet in this legislation there are no provisions, none, that will help my growers keep a viable workforce in order to pick their crops. Whenever I raise this issue, this shortcoming in this bill, I am told the Senate will deal with it. They will save it. They will take it up. Mr. Speaker, why are we punting on the issues? Amendments were submitted to deal with this, but they were rejected by the Rules Committee.…”