PERMANENT FARM LABOR PROGRAM

TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 1947

UNITED STATES SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY,

Washington, D. C.

The committee met at 10: 15 a. m., pursuant to notice, in room 324, Senate Office Building, Senator Arthur Capper (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Capper (chairman), Aiken, and Pepper. Also present: Senator Downey.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order.

Our committee is rather slow about getting together, but if it is all right with you folks, we will start the hearing.

We are here to consider Senate bill 1334, which is a bill to enable the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Federal Extension Service, to cooperate with the land-grant colleges and the universities in carrying out a program for the collection and dissemination of information with respect to the supply of, the need for, and the effective use of agricultural workers, and for other purposes.

A copy of the bill will be inserted in the record at this point. (The bill is as follows:)

[S. 1334, 80th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To enable the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Federal Extension Service, to cooperate with the land-grant colleges and universities in carrying out a program for the collection and dissemination of information with respect to the supply of, the need for, and the effective use of agricultural workers, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter called the "Secretary") is authorized and directed, through the Extension Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (hereinafter called the "Federal Extension Service"), to enter into agreements with the land-grant colleges and universities in the several States for effectuating the purposes of this Act in their respective States. However, if the land-grant college or university in any State does not enter into any such agreement with the Secretary, then he shall enter into such agreement with such State agency as may have been created or designated for such purpose by the State legislature (hereinafter called "other designated State agency"), or, in the event the State legislature has not taken such action, then the Secretary shall enter into an agreement with such other State agency, public or private, in such State as he determines is competent to carry out the purposes of this Act therein (hereinafter also referred to as "other designated State agency").

SEC. 2. The purposes of the Act to be effectuated in any State by the agency designated therein shall include (a) collecting, publishing, and disseminating information with respect to the supply and demand for agricultural workers in the State, and other related information; (b) assisting, by appropriate studies, demonstration, or other educational methods, farmers and agricultural workers in the adoption of improved practices and facilities for performing farm-labor operations; (c) facilitating the orderly intrastate and interstate movement of agricultural workers (1) by making available information with respect to the supply and demand for agricultural workers and (2) by cooperating with farmers

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and associations of farmers in the recruitment and placement of agricultural workers; (d) cooperating with farmers and migratory agricultural workers in making arrangements for health, medical, and burial services to such agricultural workers and their families through prepayment plans or other voluntary arrangements where it is determined that such services are not otherwise available or adequate and, in cases of emergency, furnishing by loan or otherwise such services to such agricultural workers and their families; (e) cooperating with State public employment agencies in the keeping of such records and information as may be necessary for the proper and efficient administration of the State unemployment compensation laws and of title V of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, as amended (58 Stat. 295; and (f) cooperating with designated agencies in other States and with the Secretary in carrying out the activities authorized under this Act.

SEC. 3. The Secretary shall apportion among, and certify payment to, the several States on the basis of need that part of such sums as may be appropriated by the Congress for carrying out this Act by the designated agencies in the several States. The sums so paid shall be available to such designated agencies for expenditure for personal services and other administrative expenses, including entering into agreements for payment to or reimbursement of other public or private agencies or individuals for furnishing services or facilities, deemed necessary by such designated agencies to carry out the activities authorized and provided for in their respective agreements with the Secretary. The Secretary shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury, from time to time, the amount to be paid to each State under this section and the time or times such payments are to be paid; and the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the State at the time or times fixed by the Secretary, the amount so certified. SEC. 4. The Secretary is authorized and directed, through the Federal Extension Service, to assist the States in carrying out their authorized activities under the Act by carrying out programs for (a) the collection, publication, and dissemination of information with respect to the supply and demand for agricultural workers in the United States, and other related information; (b) the facilitation of the orderly movement of interstate agricultural workers; and (c) the coordination of activities of the designated State agencies in carrying out the programs authorized to be carried out by such agencies in Section 2 of this Act.

SEC. 5. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year, beginning with the fiscal year 1948 such sums as the Congress deems necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. The Congress shall specify in each appropriation of funds pursuant hereto the amount to be available to the Secretary for expenditure by him for administrative and other necessary expenses. No funds appropriated under this Act shall be expended directly or indirectly to fix, regulate, impose, or enforce collective-bargaining requirements, wage rates, housing standards, hours of work, or union membership with respect to agricultural workers.

SEC. 6. Subsection (a) of section 3 of the Act entitled “An Act to provide for the establishment of a national employment system, and for other purposes," approved June 6, 1933 (U. S. C., title 29, sec. 49b), is hereby amended by striking out the following: "to maintain a farm-placement service" and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "The Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Agriculture shall take such action as may be necessary to assure maximum cooperation between them and between the State public employment agencies in the recruitment and placement of domestic farm labor and the keeping of such records and information with respect thereto as may be necessary for the proper and efficient administration of the State unemployment compensation laws and of Title 5 of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, as amended (58 Stat. 295)."

SEC. 7. (a) The Federal land banks and the banks for cooperatives are authorized to make loans to individual farmers, or associations of farmers, upon appropriate terms and rates for the lease, purchase, construction, and repair of farm labor supply centers, and the necessary facilities, equipment, and services. pertaining thereto for the purpose of housing agricultural workers.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law or regulations, the disposition of temporary housing units for the housing of agricultural workers in rural areas, which have been declared surplus in accordance with the provisions of the Surplus Property Act of 1944, as amended, shall be made without requiring the demolition or depanelization of such units.

(c) Notwithstanding the provision of section 2 (d) of the Farmers' Home Administration Act of 1946, as amended and supplemented, (1) the labor supply

centers, labor homes, labor camps, and facilities and equipment pertaining thereto, available for the farm labor supply program conducted pursuant to the Farm Labor Supply Appropriations Act, 1944 (Public Law 229, Seventy-eighth Congress), as amended and supplemented, shall, as determined by the Secretary, be available to the designated State agencies under this Act until liquidated, and such liquidation shall proceed as expeditiously as possible and be completed not later than December 31, 1948, and (2) in the liquidation of such properties pursuant to the Farmers' Home Administration Act of 1946, all sales or other dispositions thereof shall be made only to farmers and associations of farmers in the community for the purpose of housing agricultural workers. The designated State agencies are hereby authorized to operate the properties referred to in this section and the funds made available to them pursuant to this Act may be expended for such purposes.

SEC. 8. Property, supplies, equipment, and facilities acquired through purchase or otherwise with funds apportioned to the designated agencies in the several States under this Act and under Public Law 229, as amended and supplemented, notwithstanding the provisions of any law or outstanding agreement, shall become the property of the respective State agencies designated under this Act. SEC. 9. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever the Secretary determines that the supply of domestic workers willing and able to perform agricultural work is inadequate, he shall so certify to the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization and such Commissioner shall, with the approval of the Attorney General, prescribe regulations permitting the admission of foreign workers into the United States to meet such shortage in such numbers and for such periods as the Secretary specifies in his certification. Workers so admitted shall be exempt from the payment of head tax required by section 2 of the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917, and from other admission charges, and shall be exempt from those excluding provisions of section 3 of such Act which relate to contract laborers, the requirements of literacy, and the payment of passage by corporations, foreign governments, or others. Each such worker shall be provided with an identification card (with his photograph and fingerprints) to be prescribed under the said regulations which shall be in lieu of all other documentary requirements, including the registration at time of entry or after entry required by the Alien Registration Act of 1940. Any such worker admitted under the foregoing provisions who fails to maintain the status for which he was admitted or to depart from the United States in accordance with the terms of his admission shall be taken into custody under a warrant issued by the Attorney General at any time after entry and deported in accordance with section 20 of the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917. Sections 5 and 6 of such Act shall not apply to the importation of workers under this Act. None of the funds appropriated pursuant to the provisions of this Act shall be available for the payment of recruitment, transportation, and similar expenses with respect to foreign workers.

SEC. 10. When used in this Act, the term (a) "State" includes Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, (b) "agricultural work" includes any services or activities included within the provisions of section 3 (f) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 or section 1426 (h) of the Internal Revenue Code as amended, and (c) "agricultural worker" includes nationals of the United States and aliens. SEC. 11. This Act shall be effective January 1, 1948.

The CHAIRMAN. We have got quite an interesting statement from the Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Anderson, in which he discusses S. 1334 from an impartial standpoint. I think that statement should be inserted in the record.

He suggests some amendments.

(The statement is as follows:)

Hon. ARTHUR CAPPER,

Chairman, Committee on Agriculture and Forestry,

United States Senate.

JUNE 16, 1947.

DEAR SENATOR CAPPER: This is in further reply to your request of May 24, 1947, for a report on S. 1334, a bill to enable the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Federal Extension Service, to cooperate with the land-grant colleges and universities in carrying out a program for the collection and dissemination of information with respect to the supply of, the need for, and the effective use of agricultural workers, and for other purposes.

It

In effect, S. 1334 continues on a permanent basis the transfer of responsibility for agricultural labor from the Department of Labor and State employment services to the Department of Agriculture and State extension services. treats agricultural labor as one of the basic elements of agricultural production, and makes the county agricultural extension agent responsible for the local supervision and coordination of farm-labor activities with other related problems of production and marketing of agricultural commodities and of rural living. Farm operators and unpaid family workers make up about three-fourths of all farm workers, and hired workers one-fourth. Of the hired workers, around 30 percent are regular hands generally employed on one farm most of the year. More than one-half of the hired force are local, seasonal workers, and oneseventh migratory workers. There is no hard and fast distinction between the various groups of farm workers. For example, nearly one-fourth of the hired workers are farm operators or family members who work for wages on other farms part of the year. In addition, there is the annual interchange of workers between industry and agriculture. At least a half-million workers who are primarily engaged in nonfarm work are employed as farm wage workers some time during the year. Conversely, many farm workers engage part-time in nonagricultural pursuits.

One year with another, about 5 farmers out of 10 hire no labor but depend entirely on the farm operator and family workers; 3 out of 10 use hired workers sparingly; and 2 out of 10 employ 90 percent of the hired labor. The 2 farms in 10 which employ most of the hired workers also account for over two-thirds of total farm production.

Many groups have represented to us the continuing need for such a farm-labor program in the Department of Agriculture. There is a basic decision to be made as to what Department should be made responsible for the program. Permanent legislation authorizes the maintenance of farm-placement service in the Employment Services, Labor Department, while wartime emergency legislation assigned the farm-labor program to the Department of Agriculture. We have some question as to whether the Cooperative Extension Service should undertake, on a continuing basis, a program operation when its primary function has always been considered to be that of an educational agency. However, if the Congress decides that it should, we feel that it could continue to do an effective job in the farm-labor field. The point I seek to make is that the decision is one that the Congress, not the Secretary of Agriculture, should affirmatively make.

Program emphasis under the terms of this bill would shift from the direct recruitment, placement, transportation, housing, health, and medical activities characteristic of the war period to the collection and dissemination of information on labor supply and demand; educational effort in the field of efficient utilization of the labor; and the guidance of intrastate and interstate movements of workers to avoid crop losses due to labor shortages in certain areas.

Subject to congressional decision on the assignment of responsibility, we recommend that S. 1334 be passed by Congress, with certain changes which are recommended in the interests of simplicity and effective administration. These changes are explained in the attached statement and there is also transmitted, for your convenience, a copy of the bill marked to indicate the suggested revisions. In view of the time situation, we are submitting this report withut awaiting advice from the Bureau of the Budget as to the relationship of this proposed legislation, or report thereon, to the program of the President.

Sincerely yours,

CLINTON P. ANDERSON, Secretary.

AMENDMENTS TO S. 1334 RECOMMENDED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

1. Omit that part of section 1, page 2, line 2, beginning with the word "However" and ending with line 13, page 2. Insert the following in parentheses following the word "States," page 2, line 1; "(hereinafter called the "States")." If the Department through the Federal Extension Service is to effectively administer the program and obtain the cooperation between States in the movement of workers across State lines, the responsibility for the farm-labor program should be placed on the cooperative extension service of all States. The large contribution to agricultural production made by migrant workers who move to succeeding production areas as the season advances makes it imperative that a well-considered plan be developed and carried out uniformly in all States to guide the movements of such workers.

The contract authority in section 3 would appear adequate to cover situations where the State extension service might enter into an agreement with other local agencies or groups such as the State employment service, to conduct specified farm-labor activities.

2. On page 3, line 1, substitute "supplementing the efforts of". for "cooperating with". A farm-labor program will most certainly cooperate with farmers in obtaining labor. However, the wording of the act would be more descriptive of the actual job to be performed if it indicates that the farm-labor program will assist farmers who are making a definite effort to obtain the labor they need.

3. Page 3, line 4, insert the word, "housing", before the word, "health". Housing is a bottleneck to obtaining satisfactory labor in many farming communities. The provision of adequate housing is quite as important as health and medical services in protecting the health of workers and in attracting qualified workers to a community. Section 2 (d) is not interpreted as authorizing the establishment of a system of health and medical services operated by a public agency. On the contrary, it would appear to recognize the need for educational work on such problems faced by migratory workers and the farmers who employ them. By cooperative action involving informational assistance, employers and workers can be stimulated to themselves solve many of their housing, medical and health problems. We interpret the intent of this section to limit the furnishing of such services directly to workers and members of their families by the Extension Service to emergencies which, if not promptly met, might result in death or serious impairment of the health of the individual involved.

4. Page 3, beginning line 10, substitute the following for section 2 (e), “and (e) Cooperating with State public employment agencies in a manner which will facilitate (1) the proper administration of State unemployment compensation laws and of Federal laws relating to veterans' benefits, (2) the customary flow of nonagricultural labor into short-period harvest jobs, and (3) the employment in industry of agricultural workers who are underemployed parts of the year." The suggested language covers the cooperation outlined in the present section 2 (e). It enlarges upon section 2 (e) by covering (1) present and future laws relating to the employment of veterans in addition to title V of Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, and (2) the cooperation needed to facilitate the customary movement of workers between agricultural and nonagricultural employment. The suggested new wording would seem to be a slightly more accurate statement of the obvious intention of this subsection, and, in addition, does not limit cooperation to matters of unemployment compensation of veterans' readjustment claims. 5. Page 3, beginning on line 15 and ending on line 18, same page, section 2 (f) should be omitted since it is no longer pertinent following the recommended change in section 1, above.

6. Section 3, beginning page 3, line 22, delete, "designated agencies in the several". Page 3, line 24, delete, "to such designated agencies". Beginning page 4, line 3, delete, "such designated agencies", and in lieu thereof substitute, "the States". These deletions and this substitution are pertinent to the recommended change in section 1, above.

7. Section 4 (c), page 4, line 20, delete, "designated State agencies", and substitute in lieu thereof the word, "States". Beginning page 4, line 21, delete, "by such agencies". This substitution and deletion are pertinent to the recommended change in section 1, above.

8. Section 5, page 5, line 1, beginning with the word, "such", delete to line 5, ending with the word, "expenses". Substitute in lieu thereof, the following, "not to exceed $6,000,000 for any one fiscal year of which not less than 85 percentum of the funds so appropriated shall be allocated to the States as provided in section 3 of this Act. Such remaining funds as are not allocated to the States shall be available to the Secretary for expenditure by him for administrative and other necessary expenses, including personal services in the District of Columbia and including allotments to the agencies of the Department of Agriculture designated to assist in carrying out the provisions of section 4 of this Act." This revision is suggested to give those administering the program a guide in regard to the scope of the activities that should be carried out under the provisions of the act. This is particularly important because of the cooperative nature of the program. It will be a guide to the States in the development of appropriate plans and organization.

9. Section 6, page 5, line 20, beginning with the word, “the”, delete the remainder of this section through page 6, line 2. Substitute in lieu thereof, "facilitating (1) the proper administration of State employment compensation laws and of