Indiana Ag Connection - National/World News - American Agri-Women Urges Congress to Act on Ag Labor Legislation

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American Agri-Women Urges Congress to Act on Ag Labor Legislation
USAgNet - 06/16/2008

Agriculture is uniquely in crisis regarding the need for a legal workforce is the message American Agri-Women conveyed at meetings with their congressional delegates this week in the nation's capital.

Congress must act. The Emergency Agriculture Relief Act was proposed as an amendment to the supplemental spending bill to fund military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, but was removed, so now agriculture organizations are working hard to get the EARA moved forward on its own.

"The cost of waiting is to lose production and our food stability and security. The EARA is a solution within reach that avoids controversy and effectively addresses the problem on an emergency basis," stated AAW president Marcie Williams, and is the message these ag leaders want their legislators to understand. "Our crops are rotting in the field and farming operations are moving to Mexico and we need relief now."

This legislation is not amnesty. It does not provide a path to citizenship or a green card but would grant temporary, limited immigration status for experienced farm workers who would be required to continue to work in American agriculture for the next five years. The bill also reforms and streamlines the H-2A program.

AAW appreciates the work of several members of the Senate Appropriations Committee who showed their strong bipartisan majority support: Democratic Senators Inouye (HI), Leahy (VT), Harkin (IA), Kohl (WI), Murray (WA), Mikulski (MD), Feinstein (CA), Durbin (IL), and Johnson (SD), and Republican Senators Stevens (AK), Specter (PA), Domenici (NM), Bond (MO), Bennett (UT), Craig (ID), and Brownback (KS).

American Agri-Women is the nation's largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women, with 50 state, commodity, agribusiness affiliate organizations and collegiate chapters throughout the country. AAW is an all volunteer organization, working to provide reliable information about agriculture to the public since 1974.