David Carle, spokesman for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Leahy is working with senators from other farm states to pass so-called AgJobs legislation to establish a guest worker program to address the labor needs of farms not being met by Americans.Sen. Feinstein (D-CA), one of the most prominent supporters of AgJobs (along with Sen. Craig [R-ID]), claims that Republicans are opposing the introduction of AgJobs as an amendment to the upcoming farm bill. All of them? The leadership? One wonders where certain Democrats stand...
The legislation was introduced earlier this year but languished while Leahy and others attached a version of it to the massive immigration reform bill that subsequently failed to win Senate approval, Carle said.
"He's trying to get consensus for a stand-alone bill but that's a difficult thing to do because there are objections to having immigration reform passed in pieces instead of as a whole," Carle said. "It might have to be brought in as an amendment to another bill."
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sen. Leahy (D-VT) is one of those working to pass AgJobs, and his office reflects on the strategies that might be used to pass this measure: