John Conyers: “Mr. Chairman, the one problem with the amendment that my friend from Virginia has not discussed is that it eliminates…”

“Mr. Chairman, the one problem with the amendment that my friend from Virginia has not discussed is that it eliminates the requirement to provide workers with free housing. The H-2A employers must provide or pay for housing for their workers. This amendment replaces the housing provision with a housing allowance but, quote, only if housing is reasonably available in the area of employment, end quote. I find that restrictive, onerous and another sop to the growers, who probably would rejoice in having us revisit this measure as we did in 1986. I think that we have got a problem here. It is tough enough to get Americans to do this kind of labor, and to make it harder for them to get under the program by the eliminations or restrictions around the recruiting process I think is not good. I will not say it is un-American, but it sure does not help the few Americans that want to work in this very onerous area. Remember, the pay is bad, the conditions are horrible, the work is temporary.”