A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Labor bill
seems to check
the right boxes
F
or years we’ve
advocated for legisla-
tion that would give
agricultural producers and
processors easier access to
affordable, legal foreign
workers they need to make
up for the lack of domestic
laborers who want to pick,
pack and process food-
stuffs.
A bipartisan measure
introduced last week in the
U.S. House of Representa-
tives seems to fit the bill.
The Farm Workforce
Modernization Act, H.R.
4916, has the backing of 24
Democrats and 20 Repub-
licans, including House
Agricultural Committee
Chairman Collin Peterson,
D-Minn.
The bill has tentative sup-
port from nearly 250 agri-
cultural groups and labor
organizations.
Despite its importance
to the country’s food sup-
ply, many U.S. citizens
consider farm work to be
menial. It’s certainly hard,
often back-breaking work.
In many cases it’s also sea-
sonal, making the jobs less
attractive.
As a result, much of the
manual farm labor in the
orchards, vineyards, vegeta-
ble fields, nurseries and dair-
ies in the U.S. is performed
by immigrants, mostly who
are in the country illegally
and who have proffered
fraudulent documents to
their employers.
These workers are
remarkably efficient, but the
reliance on what is largely
an illegal workforce has
been problematic for a num-
ber of reasons. And while
Congress has provided a
program that grants tempo-
rary visas for foreign work-
ers, it has been made com-
plex and inadequate due
largely to the politics sur-
rounding the immigration
question.
The Farm Workforce
Modernization Act appears
to address some of those
vexing issues.
The bill establishes mer-
it-based, five-year, renew-
able work visas for people in
the country illegally who can
show they have worked in
agriculture at least 180 days
over the last two years. They
must work in agriculture 100
days a year to be eligible for
indefinite renewals and will
be able to cross the border
whenever they want.
The bill allows those
workers a path to permanent
legal status.
The bill also dedicates
an additional 40,000 green
cards per year for agricul-
tural workers and allows
H-2A workers to apply
directly for green cards
after working in the U.S. 10
years.
Temporary three-year
visas would be allowed for
year-round dairy and non-
dairy jobs.
It phases in mandatory
use of the E-Verify system,
a big step in ensuring a legal
workforce.
The bill prevents
increases in the Adverse
Effect Wage Rate (AEWR)
minimum wage for H-2A
workers through 2020. It
prevents the AEWR from
increasing more than 3.25%
or decrease by more than
1.5% in 2021 through 2029.
Still too much for some, but
a start.
It makes the H-2A visa
process less complicated
and more employer friendly.
Farm interests say these pro-
visions don’t go far enough,
but we think it’s a good start
on which more can be built
if the bill progresses to the
Republican Senate.
The big question now is
whether a sensible piece of
bipartisan legislation has a
chance of passing with an
election but a year away,
particularly with Washing-
ton’s highly charged politi-
cal climate.
We hope so.
WHERE TO WRITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax:
541-575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509.
Fax: 541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@
centurylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John
Day, 97845. Phone: 541-575-0028.
Fax: 541-575-1721. Email: cityjd@
centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601.
Fax: 541-421-3075. Email: info@
cityoflongcreek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426,
Monument 97864. Phone
and fax: 541-934-2025. Email:
cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688.
Fax: 541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@
ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie
City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax:
820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website:
governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State
Capitol, Salem, 97310. Phone: (503)
986-1180. Website: leg.state.or.us
(includes Oregon Constitution and
Oregon Revised Statutes).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol
or messages for legislators) — 800-
332-2313.
• Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario – 900
Court St. NE, S-301, Salem 97301.
Phone: 503-986-1730. Website:
oregonlegislature.gov/Bentz. Email:
Sen.CliffBentz@oregonlegislature.gov.
• Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale – 900 Court
St. NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-
986-1460. Website: oregonlegislature.
gov/findley. Email: Rep.LynnFindley@
oregonlegislature.gov.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
• The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20500; Phone-comments: 202-
456-1111; Switchboard: 202-456-
1414.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
GUEST COMMENT
Support local businesses before they disappear
By Jade McDowell
W
hen a local business
announces they are
closing their doors for
good, the announcement is often
greeted with a flood of comments
from people sad that it is closing.
I’m sure the heartbroken busi-
ness owners wonder where all
those people were when they were
struggling to attract enough cus-
tomers to stay open.
I know I’ve been guilty of it
— when Crazy Mike’s Video
closed a couple of years ago I
complained along with everyone
else that Hermiston would no lon-
ger have a video store. But when
I was honest with myself, I knew
I only used them for rentals once
or twice per year. It wasn’t fair for
me to expect the business to stay
open for my convenience when I
was only contributing a handful of
dollars per year to the cause.
Running a business is expen-
sive. People who have never done
it don’t understand the behind-
the-scenes costs run far above the
actual product they have in their
hand. When you pay for food at a
restaurant, you’re not just paying
GUEST COMMENT
We must continue standing up for our veterans
T
he men and women who
have selflessly served our
great nation deserve the
utmost support and respect. While
every Veterans Day we pay special
respect and honor to our nation’s
finest by visiting gravesites,
attending memorial services, and
participating in parades, let us also
remember that veterans deserve
the best every day. That is why
one of my top priorities in Con-
gress is ensuring our veterans
receive the service and support
they earned every day.
This year, we have done a lot for
our veterans. First, Congress passed
the biggest budget in history for
the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA), particularly when it comes to
health care. That includes $8.6 bil-
lion for mental health care services,
$400 million for opioid abuse pre-
vention, $206 million for suicide
prevention outreach, and $270 mil-
lion specifically for rural veterans’
health initiatives. A strong VA bud-
get is especially important with the
launch of the VA MISSION Act.
The VA MISSION Act, which
I cosponsored, was signed into
law by President Trump last year.
This past June, the community
care program, an aspect of the
law, launched. This gives veterans
increased access to timely, quality
care by allowing them to seek care
in the community and by establish-
ing a more permanent network of
doctors to partner with VA and see
veterans close to
where they live.
The community
care program is
essential for veter-
ans living in rural
U.S. Rep. Greg areas, like much
Walden
of our district,
because the nearest
VA may be hours away.
Another huge win our veter-
ans received this year came when
the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Vet-
erans Act of 2019 was signed into
law. This law ensures that Vietnam
Navy veterans who served in the
offshore waters of Vietnam receive
the presumption of exposure to
Agent Orange, a toxic chemical
used during the Vietnam era. Many
veterans exposed to the chemical
found that it resulted in medical
issues such as colon cancer.
In addition to providing nec-
essary compensation to our veter-
ans, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam
Veterans Act included a provi-
sion I coauthored that ensures vet-
erans in rural Oregon no longer
face needless delays when seeking
to buy a home using the benefits
they earned through their service.
I have heard several horror stories
from veterans about delays getting
an appraisal for their VA-backed
loan. Some waited up to nine weeks
to even have an appraiser assigned
to their case, making them far less
competitive as prospective buyers in
the housing market — one veteran
even lost his prospective home
when his interest rate lock expired
as he waited for an appraisal.
That’s unacceptable. Now, veter-
ans living in rural America will get
a fair chance to have their apprais-
als completed in a timely manner.
In June, we celebrated the 75th
anniversary of the GI Bill, which
has allowed our nation’s veterans
and their families to return home
to pursue further education. I
worked to help improve this bene-
fit by supporting the passage of the
Forever GI Bill, which made the
benefits last a lifetime.
While we have already
achieved a significant amount for
our veterans this year, we still
have much more ahead of us. I
will continue to work to improve
the benefits and services that vet-
erans receive and help veterans in
my district with any issues they
may face with VA. If you are a
veteran in the 2nd District of Ore-
gon, and you’re having problems
with VA, please give my office a
call at 800-533-3303. My team
and I are ready to assist you with
problems you are having with VA.
We will do everything in our power
to get results for you.
God bless all our veterans and
their families, and thank you for
your service.
Greg Walden is the U.S. repre-
sentative for Oregon’s 2nd Con-
gressional District, which includes
Umatilla and Morrow counties.
L
ETTERS POLICY: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues.
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Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
Publisher............ ......................................Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com
Editor & General Manager ...............Sean Hart, editor@bmeagle.com
Reporter ...................................................Rudy Diaz, rudy@bmeagle.com
Community News .................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Sports ........................................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Administrative Assistant ..................Makenna Adair, office@bmeagle.com
Office Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, office@bmeagle.com
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
the idea had never occurred to us
before.
And so we join that great
struggle that every local busi-
ness owner knows: Crunching
the numbers over and over again
to see where we might be able to
scrape up more revenue, rejoicing
in the “good months” that allow
us to continue serving the com-
munity and tightening our belts
through the bad.
Communities get what they
pay for in terms of shopping
options. If you have a favorite
restaurant, shop or service pro-
vider who you would miss terribly
if they were gone, do them a favor
and put your money where your
mouth is. Good recommendations
can be valuable, but at the end of
the day words don’t pay the bills.
Money does. Your money.
Shop local and eat local this
holiday season. The three extra
dollars that you spend by doing
so instead of buying online or in
the big city just might help save
someone’s business.
Jade McDowell is the News
Editor of the Hermiston Herald,
a sister paper of the Blue Moun-
tain Eagle.
for the food, you’re paying for the
rental costs of the building, utility
bills, servers, cooks, dish washers,
managers, bookkeeping, adver-
tising, equipment to handle credit
card transactions and more.
As a newspaper editor, I can
sympathize with that. At least
people expect to pay something
for the food at the restaurant —
many people are outraged at the
mere suggestion they should pay
for our product at all.
Having never gained first-
hand experience running a busi-
ness themselves, they believe that
because they access the news on
a screen instead of on a physical
piece of paper in their hands, there
is no cost to produce it. The arti-
cles just magically appear, with-
out anyone being paid to research,
interview, write, edit, photograph,
sell advertisements, post it to the
web and print it. Not to mention
overhead costs such as publishing
software and camera equipment.
Others understand the gen-
eral idea of running a business
but don’t know anything about
the economics of the newspa-
per industry, making suggestions
such as “just sell more ads” as if
Online: MyEagleNews.com
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