10/24/05 What`s the future for AgJobs bill?

President Bush says a 32 billion dollar homeland security bill he signed last week will make our borders safer thanks in part to increased patrols. At the same time the White House is pushing for legislation that will allow undocumented workers to get work visas. Idaho Senator Larry Craig insists that Idaho agriculture will suffer if it doesn't have a migrant labor workforce. He says tightening the border in Arizona and California is already impacting agriculture in those two states. CRAIG "Already there's a severe labor shortage there and they've come to Congress asking for help. There's also labor shortages on the processing lines in Idaho as it relates to fruit packing and potato processing." Craig's Ag Jobs legislation is still one of five proposed immigration reform bills under consideration by the Congress. He says doing nothing is not an option. CRAIG "We could collapse American agriculture and you could see produce rotting in the fields not only in Idaho but across our country." Some GOP leaders in the House and Senate say Congress should deal with enforcement before it gets involved in guest worker programs or demands for those types of workers. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott