Farmers and ranchers are facing escalating costs and challenges to their operations on a daily basis; in Washington state, that has led to the closure of approximately fourteen farms and ranches on a weekly basis.
This is why Congressman Dan Newhouse is taking action.
“Part of the solution, it’s not all of it, but a part of the solution is to have a reliable, legal workforce in our country. So, my legislation, the Farm Work Modernization Act, I think, does a lot of good things to help provide that reliable, legal workforce,” according to Newhouse.
Unfortunately, it has yet to make its way out of committee.
Newhouse says that a lot of his colleagues in Congress are distracted by other topics right now, especially immigration. However, there is a bright side.
“Because of some of the pressures on our farmers that we talked about that are making it difficult to survive, members of Congress, my colleagues, are hearing from farmers in their districts telling them of the challenges and difficulties they’re having just staying afloat, and so, a lot of people are waking up to the fact that these are urgent issues that we’ve got to address,” he adds.
Newhouse says that moving the act forward will not be easy, but he is not giving up and remaining hopeful.
