Kay Bailey Hutchison: “Yes. Madam President, I was going to ask if the Senator from California will yield because I do think there is a…”

“Yes. Madam President, I was going to ask if the Senator from California will yield because I do think there is a bipartisan consensus that we need to address AgJOBS. We need to have a temporary worker program going forward that fills the need for the economy of our country to continue to thrive. I know the Senator from California has worked for years on this issue, as has the Senator from Idaho. I hope we can have a freestanding bill that would encompass agricultural workers and other temporary workers, such as food processors. I was visited this week by a food processor who very much wanted comprehensive immigration reform and worked very hard for it. He is trying to do the right thing. But he is very concerned about the business being able to do the job it needs to do to get its product out on the market. I think we are going to have an employer crisis in this country if we don't have a legal way for people to hire workers for jobs that are otherwise going unfilled. I commend the Senator from California, the Senator from Idaho, and the Senator from Georgia who is on the floor as well who has worked for AgJOBS. We need a temporary worker program that, going forward, provides for our economic basis. I hope we can have a freestanding bill that will be amendable so that we can do that part of comprehensive reform.”