Angie Craig: “This bill would deal with a situation that is a problem today and could well be a crisis tomorrow. The Senate now has an…”

“This bill would deal with a situation that is a problem today and could well be a crisis tomorrow. The Senate now has an opportunity to do what our Federal Government does all too rarely, and that is fix a problem in a timely and commonsense fashion before it inflicts great hurt on millions of Americans. Mr. President, I am talking about agricultural growers and their need for a stable, predictable, legal workforce that would receive good, fair, market-based compensation. I am talking about unemployed workers and those hoping to move from welfare to work, who want and need to be matched up with agricultural jobs, if possible. American citizens should have first claim to American jobs. All workers would rather be working legally and know they can claim full legal protections only when their employment situation is open and lawful. Farm employers need to be provided with a secure work force. Workers need to be assured of basic legal and labor standard protections. These goals are not being met today. In fact, current federal law, and its bureaucratic implementation, are hurting growers and workers.”