S3946 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 7, 2021 I bring this to the attention of the Across the country, we have 2.5 mil- lation that has already passed the Senate and the American people be- lion farm workers. Roughly half of House. It is called the Farm Workforce cause I think the answer is obvious. these 2.5 million are undocumented. Modernization Act. This legislation Israel is taking it seriously. They don’t These undocumented farm workers are would fundamentally change the lives want a Trump-like mob to take control part of our communities, and many are of hundreds of thousands of these farm in their country. parents of American children. But de- workers who came to our rescue during We shouldn’t be allowing this to hap- spite the essential work they do to the darkest days of the pandemic, who pen, nor should we stop with what we keep our families fed, their second- kept working despite the threat of have done and say no more will be said. class status in America means that COVID–19 and the fact that they had This was a direct attack on our democ- they are often subject to harassment, few creature comforts of their own. racy. We cannot find, unfortunately, in untenable working conditions, sub- This is legislation that has been in the Republican leadership one Repub- standard housing, and they live under the making for years. It would provide lican leader who will support this idea constant threat of deportation. a path to lawful, permanent residency of a bipartisan Commission. When it Last month, The Guardian news serv- for undocumented farm workers and comes to January 6, the job isn’t fin- ice published a piece on the working their family members. That means ished. and living conditions for farm workers they would be able to do the essential The last point I will make is, we re- in southern Texas. I want to share a work they have already been doing ceived a letter—an anonymous letter— few passages about one worker in par- without living in fear of being deported from the Police asking us ticular. Her name is Linda. Nina and losing their kids. It also means to form this Commission and to get to Lakhani writes that Linda ‘‘works six these workers could advocate for high- the bottom of it. To think that we days a week, sometimes seven, putting er wages, safer working conditions, walk through this Capitol every day food on Americans’ tables but earns which would make our Nation’s farm and those men and women are risking barely enough to cover the bills and de- labor workforce more stable and their lives for us and we would not pends on food stamps to feed her [own] strengthen the durability of our food even allow a bipartisan Commission to supply chain. look into that day and the threats to family,’’ her children. After long days in the fields, [Linda] sleeps Offering these farm workers a path to the lives of those policemen on that permanent residency is the least that day is shameful. It is disgraceful. It is on an old couch in the kitchen-lounge as part of the house was left uninhabitable by a we could do to acknowledge their tire- unacceptable. fire and a hurricane. less, back-breaking work during this Senator SCHUMER said we will vote on it again. I hope we do, and fre- But she calls it home. pandemic. Over the past year, we have quently, so we can remind the Amer- Her 11-year-old son [who has some learning heard a lot of praise for the essential ican people who is taking this matter disorders] sleeps on the other couch . . . two workers of America. I join them, of daughters share a bedroom where water very seriously and who is not. course. At our time of need, they did leaks through a mouldy roof. The eldest, a their job, sometimes at great personal FARM WORKERS 16-year-old . . . and her 6-month-old baby cost. Now it is time to do our job and Madam President, on another issue, sleep in a room with cindered walls. on another topic, when the pandemic Last summer, [Linda] and her three teen- pass the Farm Workforce Moderniza- was first declared in March of last age daughters contracted Covid-19. . . . tion Act. Enacting this legislation is not just year, we entered a world of uncer- Rather than risk going to an emergency about doing the right thing for work- tainty. We were confronted with the re- room, a relative with legal immigration sta- tus crossed the border to Reynosa and pur- ers; it is about doing the right thing ality that our schools and our work- chased a small tank of oxygen [for Linda]. for our economy and doing the right places were going to be shut down in thing, period. the foreseeable future, family gath- Linda has lived in the United States When the pandemic hit last year, it erings and get-togethers were going to of America for more than 25 years. She caused the worst economic crisis since be restrained, and our favorite places is one of the many undocumented farm the Great Depression. Twenty-two mil- for relaxing and fun—restaurants and workers who keep my family and our lion jobs vanished in America. Millions stores—were basically closed. But amid families fed. Yet she herself can barely of working families lost their source of all these uncertainties, one thing re- feed her own family. Her experience is income, and some, for the first time in mained constant and dependable: our not an isolated one. their lives, struggled to put food on the domestic food supply. Despite the dis- I want to share one last passage from table. Can you imagine how much ruptions, panic buying, and supply the article in The Guardian: ‘‘Even be- chain bottlenecks that arose during fore the pandemic, farms were among worse this crisis would have been if our the pandemic, our domestic food supply the most dangerous workplaces in the Nation was saddled with a food scar- remained fundamentally intact every country, where low-paid workers have city crisis as well? Thanks to our farm- step of the way. little protection . . . long hours, repet- ers and these farm workers I am speak- Over the past year, most of us had itive strain injuries, exposures to pes- ing for today, we never faced it. It is the assurance that when we stopped at ticides, dangerous machinery, extreme one of the many examples of how im- a grocery store, there was plenty of heat and animal waste.’’ migrants make our country stronger. food for our family, and when grocery Now add this contagious virus that We take them for granted. They go to store shelves started to run empty, we these workers face too. work every day and do the dirtiest, could always trust that more food was According to the Environmental most dangerous jobs in America. Now on the way because farmers were doing Working Group, more than a dozen we have to do something for them. their job and distributors of food sup- States don’t provide any form of PPE According to last year’s census, ply were doing the same. It goes to or COVID testing for farm workers, and America’s population grew at the slow- show that, thanks to American agri- there are no social distancing guide- est rate since the 1930s. That is a warn- culture, we are blessed by abundance. lines in place on these farms. In some ing sign for the future of our economy. As we come together to commend the cases, workers arrive to the fields in If our population growth continues to courageous doctors, nurses, and other tightly packed trucks, and the crews slow, our Nation’s tax base will shrink. frontline workers who have cared for reportedly share cups of water from the It means we will have fewer working- our loved ones, there is another group same cup during the day. age adults who can help support elderly of essential workers who have toiled I think it would be accurate to clas- Americans—a population that is ex- alongside our farmers and ranchers to sify these working conditions as dan- pected to double over the next few dec- keep our families fed: farm workers. gerous, but these essential workers ades. To grow our economy, we need to I am sure most Americans know very don’t have the luxury of being able to bring people out of the shadows so they little about the farm workers who sup- advocate for themselves—because they can continue to contribute to America ply the food we eat every day. In Illi- are always under the shadow and risk for years to come. So when we vote on nois, we have 20,000 of these farm work- of deportation. legislation like the Farm Workforce ers. They plant, harvest, and pick our We in the Senate can change that. Modernization Act, we are really vot- State’s most lucrative crops. We can pass a piece of bipartisan legis- ing for our economic future.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G07JN6.007 S07JNPT1 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE June 7, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3947 I would like to remind my colleagues gration is controversial. But they un- highs. Prices are rising so rapidly that that America didn’t build the world’s derstand the fairness of it all. a project costing $300,000 at the begin- greatest economy by closing our doors, I want to salute MICHAEL BENNET, the ning ends up costing more than $350,000 crossing our fingers, and doing one an- Senator from , who has been a at the time of completion. This eats other’s laundry. We did it by wel- leader on this subject from the start. into builders’ margins and discourages coming the workers of the world, by of- Years ago, we had a coalition effort, them from starting new projects, fering them a home where they can the Gang of 8 effort. He was the person therefore, putting people out of work. earn an honest living, pay their fair who put together the farm worker pro- Folks back home can rest assured share, and secure a brighter future for vision. I think was a that I will be monitoring this closely. I their children. great contributor in that effort as well. will be listening to my constituents Many people say: Well, we want to MICHAEL BENNET is back again work- and other companies about their costs get those Ph.D.s from , , and ing for this bill. We ought to take this and supply chain experiences. But I Asia. We want them living here. They up. We ought to do it this week. We shouldn’t be the only one taking all are going to be good for our economy, ought to pass it out of the Senate, the these concerns into account. These and they are going to create busi- bill that passed the House, and, in so price jumps should be concerning to all nesses. doing, we would be doing a favor for es- of us in this building because the na- That is all true. I stand behind that sential workers—some of the lowest tional numbers don’t paint a rosy pic- as well. But there are also many work- paid, hardest working people in Amer- ture. ers who don’t have that level of edu- ica. It is only right, and I hope we do it In April, consumer prices jumped by cation but have a determination and a soon. 4.2 percent, the highest rise in over a work ethic that have always been part I yield the floor. decade. Energy prices went up 25 per- of success in the American economy. I suggest the absence of a quorum. cent overall, with gas prices increasing This unique American promise, build The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- nearly 50 percent. According to the a brighter future for their children as pore. The clerk will call the roll. Philadelphia Federal Reserve, price in- well as ours, is the bedrock of our Na- The legislative clerk proceeded to creases by one metric were the highest tion. No other country in the world can call the roll. since 1980. deprive us of it. We can only deprive Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam Presi- This level of inflation doesn’t just af- ourselves by refusing to fix a broken dent, I ask unanimous consent that the fect a select few; it affects all Amer- immigration system that leaves mil- order for the quorum call be rescinded. ican families. For many folks, a 4-per- lions of hard-working families in the The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. cent hike on grocery bills takes a seri- shadows of our society. If we want to BALDWIN). Without objection, it is so ous toll. Rising prices like these are continue leading in the 21st century, if ordered. the definition of a kitchen table issue. we want America to be in first place ECONOMIC RECOVERY Paying 50 percent more for gas or hav- and not second place, we need to keep Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam Presi- ing a costlier electric bill forces fami- the American promise alive, and we dent, I spoke recently about a serious lies to make a hard choice on what need to do it by passing the Farm crisis facing our economy, the work- they can and cannot afford for that Workforce Modernization Act, joining force shortage. This has been brought month. together in support of comprehensive on by many things that my colleagues We must get our fiscal house in order immigration reform. from the left have spent and asked before inflation gets totally out of con- Madam President, the issue of immi- questions and brought about policies. trol and reverses the economic progress gration, as you probably know, is a Today, I want to discuss another we made under President Trump’s lead- point of passion of mine. I know it is looming challenge to our economy, one ership. one of yours. You mentioned to me the where Democratic policies are adding You know there are different ways to other day in passing that you are the fuel to the fire, if not starting the fire combat inflation—a lot of different only true immigrant in the Senate, and itself. I am talking about inflation. ways—but we know what makes infla- it is, I guess, historic that I would give Inflation is not an abstract idea tion worse: massive government spend- this speech and you would be presiding thrown around by finance gurus. Infla- ing, and that is exactly what we are over the Senate as I do. I am sure you tion is a real threat to the pocketbooks getting as we speak. feel as I do. These people go to work of hard-working Americans throughout President Biden and congressional every single day. They do the dirtiest, our great country. We haven’t hit the Democrats spent $1.9 trillion on a stim- hardest, most dangerous work in Amer- inflation levels of ’s days ulus bill that flooded the economy with ica, and they do it without any hope of yet, but the warning signs are here. cash just 2 months ago. Think about a great future because they are un- I recently spoke with a group of that—1.9 trillion. Now we want to documented. They have no future. The homebuilders from across my home spend trillions on a package in disguise person they are working for this week State of Alabama. They told me how of an infrastructure bill. And they are may decide on Friday night not to pay they are seeing prices increase that are following this up by trillions more to them anything. Are they going to go to even higher than the ballooning na- fund items on the progressive priority court to fight for their rights as work- tional average. As an example, in Ala- list in the future. ers? Probably not. They don’t feel they bama and across much of the South, Well, they are being confronted by have any rights because they are un- homebuilding materials, such as brick, the old truth: There is no such thing as documented. are up 10 percent. Insulation prices are a free lunch. Simple economics show But a good thing happened here years up 15 percent. Sheetrock prices are up that when the supply of something ago when a coalition of Senators, nearly 50 percent. Lumber prices are up goes up, the value goes down. Money is Democrats and Republicans, put to- 300 percent. And particle board prices, no different. gether a farm worker provision. Now which are used in most homes across President Biden’s policies are pump- the House has done it for us again. the country, the price is up almost 600 ing our economy with money we sim- They have led the way with the Farm percent. ply don’t have to spend, and that is the Workforce Modernization Act and Although demand for houses went up definition of inflation: making money passed it and sent it here. It is time for during the height of the pandemic, the lose its value. It is the natural result of us to take up this measure. Commerce Department reported that the policies that we passed in this I have talked to a number of our Re- U.S. homebuilding actually declined in Chamber in the last few months. publican friends, and many of them are April of this year. With the demand for That is why Larry Summers, a from agricultural States. They under- housing so high right now, you would former Treasury Secretary and adviser stand it, and they support it. They think new construction would be tak- to Presidents Clinton and Obama, want to be a part of it. You would be ing place everywhere you turn, but warned that the Biden stimulus would surprised if I told you their names on that is not the case. Builders are actu- be ‘‘the least responsible macro- the floor, but I am careful not to. They ally delaying construction projects be- economic policy we’ve had in the last are worried because this issue of immi- cause material prices have hit record 40 years.’’ Remember, he worked for

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