Kim Schrier: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I thank my colleagues, Representative Lofgren and Representative Newhouse, for…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I thank my colleagues, Representative Lofgren and Representative Newhouse, for their very hard work on this bipartisan bill. The critical needs of our farmers and farmworkers have gone too long without being addressed by Congress. As the sole Member in the entire Northwest on the House Agriculture Committee, I am proud to represent the apple capital of the world, Wenatchee, as well as farmers and growers on both sides of the Cascades, and I can say that they are hurting. What I hear from the farmers and orchardists across my State is that a stable workforce is critical to their ability to put food on our tables. As the domestic workforce is dwindling, more and more growers have been forced to turn to the burdensome and bureaucratic H-2A program for the workers they need to grow and harvest their crops. Farmworkers are critical. If the cherries ripen and there is no one to pick them, our farms and our farmers will fail. Crops don't wait, and millions of dollars and futures are at stake. This important bill will provide a stable workforce for our farmers and a path to legal status for farmworkers and their families. This is the kind of winning bipartisan legislation that is exactly what our country needs. I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes.''”