Cantwell on Immigration

Cantwell on Immigration. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

We have been looking at the immigration deal that is being crafted in DC. The House has been a bit slow on the uptake but will hopefully get things in motion after this holiday break. The Senate has put together a fairly decent bill and Senator Maria Cantwell is hopeful it will move forward.

CANTWELL: The Senate Judiciary committee has passed out a bill and when we get the agricultural bill done then we’ll go to immigration reform. I think it’s important to get a bill and I think the compromises that have been made so far have led in a direction where I think it’s really possible to get a bill. And we certainly want to secure our borders but we also want to make sure that we still attract the best and brightest into our country and make things work.

She notes that there are still a lot of compromises ahead.

CANTWELL: We’re paying particular attention to the ag job portion and our colleague from California, Senator Feinstein that comes from a big agriculture state kind of led the charge in the Judiciary Committee on exactly how to get a guest worker program and get ag jobs and people to be able to have a free flow back and forth to do the kind of work that specialty crops in the northwest need and I think it’s not a perfect solution but it’s a very good provision.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.