Political Quotes

“I have a question about the migrant and seasonal Farmworker Housing Program. I have worked for a number of years to ensure that the Labor Department provide funding for housing assistance for eligible farmworkers. There is a well-established network of local housing organizations that receive these funds. I am particularly impressed by the work of the organization in my State, the Delta Housing Project. The Senate Report accompanying this bill recommends $5,000,000 for farmworker housing. This amount represents an increase of $1,000,000 over the fiscal year 2001 level. In fiscal 2001 the committee increased the fund from $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 representing the first increase since 1982. I am pleased that the committee has recently increased the funding to this worthwhile program so that grant recipients can use these funds for important housing projects. However, despite the fact that in fiscal year 2001 the program was increased by 20 percent, most all grant recipients received less money than they have consistently relied upon for the past 17 years. This does not seem fair.”