House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway offered his approval to a bill that would bring reforms to agriculture labor.
Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved the Ag Act, which supporters say would replace the flawed H-2A guestworker program.
Conaway says the bill would help provide farmers with access to a legal, steady supply of workers. Saying it’s time for a program that “respects our nation’s immigration laws and keeps American agriculture competitive,” Conaway says the bill “cuts red tape and institutes a flexible program that accounts for the different labor needs of various producers.”
The bill was first introduced earlier this month by Virginia Republican Representative Bob Goodlatte.
At that time, more than 60 dairy groups penned a joint letter calling the bill a “significant, positive step forward.” However, United Farm Workers and the AFL-CIO told Congress the bill would “create even more unfairness and dysfunction” in the immigration system.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.