Senate rejects AgJobs, but supporters remain hopeful
Senate rejects AgJobs, but supporters remain hopeful
WASHINGTON Although the Senate voted April 19 not to debate the AgJobs bill, supporters say they were pleased with the vote tally and believe there is enough support to pass it in the Senate later this year.
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) pushed for the historic vote by offering the farmworker reform bill for the first time on the Senate floor as an amendment to an emergency spending measure. AgJobs seeks to stabilize the agricultural workforce by reforming the H2A guest worker program and providing a path to legal status for an estimated 500,000 workers already in the country, he said.
The measure received 53 votes - meaning a majority of the 100 Senators approved it - but not enough to garner 60 votes to override a filibuster.
"A majority of my colleagues sent a strong message today that they support AgJobs and are ready to address immigration reform, said Sen. Craig.
"President Bush and Majority Leader [Bill] Frist continue to stress the importance of addressing comprehensive immigration reform this year. I will continue to work with Senator [Edward] Kennedy and our other supporters to bring this before the Senate sooner rather than later, he said.
The vote was on a procedural issue, and supporters believe that Sen. Craig could have picked up more votes if some Republican senators were not opposed to attaching an immigration reform measure to a spending bill.
"We were actually pleased by the vote, said Sharon Hughes, executive vice president of the National Council of Agricultural Employers, who is hoping the issue surfaces again on the Senate floor later this year. The bipartisan measure was the result of years of negotiations between farmworker unions and agricultural interests, who are struggling with labor shortages, the need to improve working conditions and a broken H2A guest worker system.
The vote on the Craig bill shows the importance of pushing a bipartisan bill, said Ms. Hughes, since the competing measure, offered by Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) went down in flames by garnering only 21 votes. That measure would have temporarily legalized some farmworkers but would give them no chance of achieving permanent residency, which AgJobs would allow under a two-step process.
Opponents to AgJobs don't believe there is a problem with the agricultural workforce, said a spokesman for Sen. Craig. They think immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans and that the bill would create an amnesty program for illegal aliens.
"We're seeing people critical of what [Sen. Craig's] trying to do, but never offer solutions of their own, he said. "It's very frustrating."
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) pushed for the historic vote by offering the farmworker reform bill for the first time on the Senate floor as an amendment to an emergency spending measure. AgJobs seeks to stabilize the agricultural workforce by reforming the H2A guest worker program and providing a path to legal status for an estimated 500,000 workers already in the country, he said.
The measure received 53 votes - meaning a majority of the 100 Senators approved it - but not enough to garner 60 votes to override a filibuster.
"A majority of my colleagues sent a strong message today that they support AgJobs and are ready to address immigration reform, said Sen. Craig.
"President Bush and Majority Leader [Bill] Frist continue to stress the importance of addressing comprehensive immigration reform this year. I will continue to work with Senator [Edward] Kennedy and our other supporters to bring this before the Senate sooner rather than later, he said.
The vote was on a procedural issue, and supporters believe that Sen. Craig could have picked up more votes if some Republican senators were not opposed to attaching an immigration reform measure to a spending bill.
"We were actually pleased by the vote, said Sharon Hughes, executive vice president of the National Council of Agricultural Employers, who is hoping the issue surfaces again on the Senate floor later this year. The bipartisan measure was the result of years of negotiations between farmworker unions and agricultural interests, who are struggling with labor shortages, the need to improve working conditions and a broken H2A guest worker system.
The vote on the Craig bill shows the importance of pushing a bipartisan bill, said Ms. Hughes, since the competing measure, offered by Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) went down in flames by garnering only 21 votes. That measure would have temporarily legalized some farmworkers but would give them no chance of achieving permanent residency, which AgJobs would allow under a two-step process.
Opponents to AgJobs don't believe there is a problem with the agricultural workforce, said a spokesman for Sen. Craig. They think immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans and that the bill would create an amnesty program for illegal aliens.
"We're seeing people critical of what [Sen. Craig's] trying to do, but never offer solutions of their own, he said. "It's very frustrating."
