The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SEASONAL WORK PERMITS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Senate section on pages S6257-S6258 on June 1, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SEASONAL WORK PERMITS
Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I want to take a minute this morning to talk about an issue that has been of some concern for us in Wyoming, as the Presiding Officer knows, for some time; yet we have not been able to move forward on it. It has to do with work permits that allow people to come and work for a seasonal time, for a relatively short time, in our case, generally, for the tourism around Yellowstone Park.
In that business, they have offered these jobs to anyone, of course, over the years, but they have been filled largely by people coming from other countries--mostly Mexico--for a fairly short period of time on what is called an H-2B visa. This is a category of visa that allows for seasonal and temporary nonagricultural workers to come. These workers are employed in all kinds of industries that include fisheries, timber, hotels, restaurants, and others. Even ice skating shows have been talked about recently.
Businesses must file a petition with the State department of labor to certify that no local workers are available. They have always done that, of course. Workers are certified for a specific period of time. When that time has expired, they must return to their home country. I think this program has been in place for a good long time. I think it is one of the unique ones where there has been a record of returning.
One of the problems is--and this has come up as a problem, of course, in the last several months or a year--there has been a lot of conversation about illegal immigrants in this country, and properly so. There has been a great deal of conversation about outsourcing and paying less because you can get people to come from other places. Those things are true, but they are not applicable in this particular instance because, No. 1, these people are certified to be here. They go back when the time is over.
In the past, they have been able to come back on the same permit over a period of time. It has kind of worked that way. The wages have been reasonable wages paid in these particular areas. It is a fact and it is true that the jobs are not always the kind of jobs that a lot of young people want in our country. They are working in hotels and motels; nevertheless, they are jobs that are available and reasonably paid.
I think, though, because of the situation we have had and other kinds of problems with immigrants and illegals, this has become a more realistic issue than it would have been otherwise. This year, the number of H-2Bs was capped, and the number happened to be 66,000 per year. The fact is, this is really the first time that cap has been enforced. It is the first time people have ever thought in terms of a cap. Much of it had to do with the timing. People were talking, as our folks do in Jackson, about the summer season. They had not worried too much about doing this until the spring when they have traditionally done it; and it turns out that because of the cap, those numbers had been reached in other places. Therefore, it excluded the involvement of any more H-2Bs.
This is not an issue that is unique particularly to Wyoming. Other States, such as New Hampshire, Maine, Alaska, Virginia, Ohio, and North Carolina, have specifically spoken out as we have about the problem that exists in Wyoming.
Last year, they had petitions roughly for 1,800 workers in Wyoming. About 1,600 went, as I mentioned, to Jackson Hole. So we tried to find a solution to this situation because it seemed, more than anything, to be a question of timing. If we are going to have a limit, that is fine, but the limit ought to be known so that people, if they are going to need workers in the summer, can make application at an appropriate time earlier in the year so that the timing is not an issue. That is the way it has been this year.
So for the last number of months, since we all heard about this--the first was in March before we even knew about the limit--the Senators and staff have been working to address this issue in a fair and consistent manner, to make good immigration policy. None of us are looking for illegal immigrants who are trying to extend illegal opportunities. This is a program that has been in place, has been useful, and has been legal. These are legal people who come and then they return, so the question of illegal immigration doesn't really fit in here.
So I need to make the point that this is something that we could proceed with. As a matter of fact, there have been opportunities in the Senate to move forward, and many suggestions that have been made are reasonable. I am trying to emphasize the fact that we need to move to do this and not simply write off the 2004 season. I will have to admit it is now very late and people are looking for other ways to fill these spots, and some of them can be, and that is fine.
I was in Wyoming this weekend at a place where they have similar seasons. They had set up a parking lot beside this motel where people could bring their trailers and their travel vehicles and stay there during the summer. These were older folks, pretty much retired, who wanted to work part time in the summer, and they would bring their trailer and stay. Some of the jobs can be filled that way, and they are. The fact is, businesses are going to be hurt if we don't do something. Certainly, we need to do that. There are some propositions that have been put forward on the Senate floor. We have had a couple folks objecting to them, so nothing has been done.
I think it is time. If people want to change the proposition, they can do that if they are comfortable with it. But we ought to move forward with the problem, which we can fix or require to be fixed or ask to be fixed, so that there is a reasonable opportunity for people to continue in the business of doing the same thing they have been doing, where now they are prohibited because of the timing proposition.
So I am hopeful we can continue to take a look at it. If it is too late for this year, I am sorry, but we ought to fix it now. But if we are not able to fix it this year, we will know what we are faced with for the next year. I understand the system in the Senate, but it is too bad when we have something that affects most people, and it can be held up and not allowed to even be discussed and moved forward. I think this is under the leadership of the Senator from Utah.
Mr. President, I wanted to share some thoughts on that issue instead of waiting and letting this continue to be a problem in another season. Perhaps there is still time in some cases to be of assistance in this season. It is a plan and a program that has been in place and has worked over the years. We need to continue to allow people to participate in that plan.
I urge us to move forward and address the problem and make some kind of solution and not let it just die out and impact visitors, as well as employees and employers, in places such as Jackson, WY, and other places where people come for the summer.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. As a Senator from the State of Wyoming, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
Without objection, it is so ordered.
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