AG Jobs

Floor Speech

Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, toiling on America's farms is no easy job. Few people are willing to endure the heat, cold and misery of stooping in the fields--or the low wages. Today, an estimated 75 percent of the farming workforce is undocumented. This is bad for everybody.

Undocumented workers are easy prey for exploitation and are unable to assert their rights. Farm workers talk of unbearable heat, poor living conditions, even abuse; and they have no one to turn to for help. Growers complain about the labor shortages that can spoil their crops. I have heard how farms struggle to maintain reliable, legal workforces to prune, pick and pack food for America's tables.

Farm workers and growers need immediate relief to ensure that agriculture, especially in California, continues to thrive. That solution is ag jobs. Now that the House has passed the DREAM Act, I urge the Senate to pass both bills soon so farms can continue to operate, and students can achieve their dreams as we work on a permanent fix for this broken system.

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