Newhouse urges Senate passage of bill to fight nationwide agriculture ‘labor shortage crisis’

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) on Tuesday joined several national agricultural organizations to urge U.S. Senate passage of his bipartisan bill aimed at providing labor certainty to both farm owners and workers across the country.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021, H.R. 1603, which Rep. Newhouse cosponsored in March 2021 with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), contains provisions related to alien farmworkers, including those establishing a certified agricultural worker (CAW) status, and changing the H-2A temporary worker program, according to the congressional record bill summary.

“Agriculture producers across the country are facing a labor shortage crisis, and I don’t use the word ‘crisis’ lightly,” said Rep. Newhouse during a July 12 press conference with the American Business Immigration Coalition Action, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, the International Fresh Produce Association, AmericanHort, and the National Council of Agricultural Employers.

“I’m a farmer myself,” the congressman said, “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.”

He urged his Senate colleagues to come together “so we can finally fix our broken immigration system and combat the rising food costs facing every single American across the country.”

H.R. 1603, which has garnered 60 more cosponsors, passed the U.S. House of Representatives for the second time in March 2021 and was sent to the Senate, which referred it to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration. The bill has sat there since then. 

If enacted, H.R. 1603 would establish a program for agricultural workers in the United States to earn legal status through continued agricultural employment, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Newhouse.

Additionally, the bill would reform the H-2A program to provide more flexibility for employers, while ensuring worker protections by modifying the program to be more responsive and user-friendly for employers via a mandatory, nationwide E-Verify system for all agricultural employment for authorized workers who are incorrectly rejected by the system, the summary says.

“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’t work for farmers or farmworkers,” Rep. Newhouse said during the press conference. “This puts our farmers in a tough spot.”

By ensuring a legal and reliable agricultural workforce, Rep. Newhouse said that the nation can secure its food supply, bolster national security, reduce food costs, raise wages, and reduce unemployment “by creating value-added, upstream jobs for Americans.”