{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-urges-senate-take-immediate-action-farm-workforce", "Newhouse Urges Senate to Take Immediate Action on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act", "2022-04-27", "2022", "2022-04", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Dan Newhouse", "N000189", "newhouse.house.gov", "newhouse", "https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013\u2013 Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) hosted a press conference with community leaders and advocacy organizations including the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry\u2019s (NCCHM) Ra\u00edces y Alas Congress, Americans for Prosperity, AmericanHort, National Immigration Forum, Ra\u00edces, The LIBRE Initiative, and several other members of the Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus to urge action on his legislation, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. This legislation is a strong workforce solution which will provide certainty to both farm owners and workers through an accessible, employment-based program, and is a key component to his efforts to address border security, Dreamers, and the agricultural workforce.\n\nClick here to hear Rep. Newhouse\u2019s remarks.\n\nRep. Newhouse\u2019s remarks as prepared can be found in full below:\n\nThank you, Bishop, for that introduction.\n\nHello everyone, I\u2019m Congressman Dan Newhouse from Washington State, and I\u2019m here today to urge my colleagues to come together so we can finally fix our broken immigration system.\n\nWe need a system that stops rewarding illegal behavior and reforming our broken system has been one of my top priorities in Congress\u2014from ensuring we have a workable guestworker program for our agriculture industry to providing certainty and legal status for Dreamers who were brought here as children at no fault of their own.\n\nThe best way to stop illegal immigration is to streamline our legal immigration processes, eliminate opportunities to work without legal status, and simply enforce our laws. That\u2019s why I continue to push my legislation, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.\n\nAgriculture producers across the country are facing a labor shortage crisis, and I don\u2019t use the word \u201ccrisis\u201d lightly.\n\nI\u2019m a farmer myself, and I can tell you that it is truly a struggle to find workers. Without an adequate workforce, our crops will go unharvested, and our already-delicate food supply chain is placed further at risk.\n\nSo, to keep our families fed and our country running, many of our producers rely on the H-2A program for labor, but the program is burdensome and the application process doesn\u2019t work for farmers or farmworkers.\n\nThis puts our farmers in a tough spot.\n\nWhile I see firsthand the struggle our Central Washington producers face, this isn\u2019t just an issue affecting Central Washington, this is a nationwide issue.\n\nThat is why at the federal level, I introduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act\u2014to address these labor shortages and ensure we have a legal and reliable workforce for all of agriculture.\n\nThe legislation streamlines the existing H-2A program and establishes a new employment- and merit-based program to ensure that not only are agriculture workers in the United States legally, but that they remain law-abiding and continue to contribute to our farms, ranches, local communities, and economies.\n\nBy ensuring a legal and reliable agricultural workforce, we can secure our food supply, strengthening our national security and averting disaster.\n\nIt is imperative we reform our broken immigration laws and ensure that those who wish to pursue a legal pathway or come to our country to contribute to our agriculture industry are able to do so.\n\nWe also must deliver certainty for Dreamers in Central Washington and across the country by enacting a solution that strengthens our national security and allows DACA recipients to continue contributing to our communities.\n\nThe United States is a country built by immigrants, and we welcome them into our communities. In my home district of Central Washington, immigrants are small business owners, scientists, teachers, veterans, neighbors, friends, and\u2014in many cases\u2014family.\n\nCongress cannot keep kicking this can down the road, and until we have a comprehensive solution signed into law, these young people\u2014who were brought to this country at no fault of their own\u2014will continue to suffer.\n\nResponsible immigration reform means legislation that protects our communities, strengthens our national security, and secures our southern border, but also recognizes the contributions of immigrants and bolsters our local economies, producers, and small businesses.\n\nIt is past time we deliver solutions\u2014not just empty promises\u2014to our farmers and ranchers, to our farmworkers, and to all Americans who deserve a strong food supply chain.\n\nAnd we already have that solution in the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.\n\nIf I can leave today with a message, I would impress upon you to reach out to your Senators and tell them you want to see the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, as well as legislation that gives certainty to Dreamers and improves border security, move forward in the Senate.\n\nBecause together, we can finally secure our border, provide certainty for our Dreamers, and provide a lasting solution for our farmers and ranchers.\n\nThank you.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T02:19:30Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-urges-senate-take-immediate-action-farm-workforce"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4255219139158726, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}