Date: 1984-06-14
Speaker: ROBERT F. SMITH (republican)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong support of the MorrisonPanetta amendment. Mr. Chairman. I strongly urge support for the MorrisonPanetta amendment that would create a seasonal foreign worker program that addresses the needs of growers of perishable commodities. If Immigration reform legislation passes in its current form. without providing a legal mechanism through which growers can have an adequate supply of foreign labor. when and in the amount needed. thousands of growers of perishable crops throughout this Nation. including hundreds of fruit growers in Hood River and Medford. OR.. will face economic disaster. Their problem is a simple one. Without a sufficient number of domestic workers. they cannot harvest highly perishable crops in time to save them from rotting. Without a marketable crop. they have lost their livelihood. The producer of perishables is characteristically a family farmer with less than 50 acres. They do not have the resources to hire a personnel department to handle all the redtape necessary to try to deal with complex Government programs such as the H2 program that cannot. in any event. guarantee them a work force of foreign workers when they are needed. Without this amendment. they will be forced out of business and thousands of rural communities that have built up around them will also suffer. The likely results of this sad occurrence are threefold. Perishable crop production will end up concentrated in the hands of a few large corporate farming operations that can weather labor shortages or afford to struggle with the H2 program. Fewer farmers means less competition and higher prices to the consumer. The second consequence will be that farmland that has heretofore been used for specialty crops will be diverted to other types of agriculture that can be mechanically harvested and is less labor intensive. This will result in fewer perishable crops. using land for less than its highest and best use and increased production of grains and other commodities of which there is an abundance. The third likely result is that many growers will transfer their farming operations outside of the country where labor is plentiful. This not only deprives this country of the multiple economic benefits of these farms but also means that consumers will increasingly buy fresh fruits and vegetables imported from other countries at higher costs and at inferior quality. It is evident that the MorrisonPanetta amendment is vital to the economic wellbeing of this Nation. It benefits all of society without hurting domestic workers of any other segment of it. I think that this point is particularly important to stress. this amendment will not result in the displacement of any domestic workers. Employers must make every effort to recruit domestic workers up until the day aliens report to work. In conclusion. let me emphasize seven points about the MorrisonPanetta Amendment: First. it protects domestic workers. Second. it provides a legal means for workers to come in to the United States. Third. it serves the agricultural industry by providing a stable and reliable work force. Fourth. consumers will benefit from passage of this amendment. Fifth. the agricultural industry will benefit from passage of this amendment. Sixth. workers will benefit forn passage of this amendment. and Seventh. the entire Nation will benefit from passage of this amendment. I hope you will join me in supporting it.*