In The News

U.S. Rep.  Rick Allen, R-Georgia 12th District, has introduced legislation now known as the BARN Act, intended to improve farmers ability to hire guest workers from other countries, five times now, in five different sessions of Congress. He says this legislation should have a place in broader immigration reform.

Highly critical of President Joe Biden’s actions on immigration, Allen wants any reform to include greatly increased border security but does say that reform is needed. The BARN Act was one of two more-or-less farming-related issues he talked about in a phone interview last week.

The “BARN” in BARN Act stands for “Better Agriculture Resources Now.” The legislation, which Allen reintroduced in March as House Resolution 1778, would transfer responsibility for certifying the eligibility of agricultural employers to participate in the H-2A visa program from the U.S. Department of Labor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It would also make other changes in the agricultural guestworker program, such as changing the deadlines for applications and approval.

“I’ve introduced this in every congress, and over the past few years Americans have become increasingly aware of the importance of an abundant food supply and an efficient and affordable food supply because it’s a national security issue,” he said.

By “every congress,” he means he has introduced the same or similar legislation in each two-year session since he first took office at the beginning of 2015.

“The Department of Labor was instituted to employ domestic workers,” Allen said. “Frankly, I think they see that as their major responsibility, so they’re not entirely cooperative when it comes to bringing in the necessary labor to harvest our crops, and we have a lot of that, obviously, particularly with our Vidalia onions.”

If enacted, the bill would also “extend greater flexibility to applicants,” enact “strong reforms to combat visa overstays and fraud,” and establish “clear housing requirements for those H-2A workers,” he said.

The legislation would also remove the word “temporary” from the description of the kind of agricultural jobs for which H-2A workers are eligible. But an initial H-2A visa would remain valid for only one year, extendable for a second year, after which a worker would have to leave the United States for at least two months and reapply for a visa.

Georgia Farm Bureau and the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association sought and expressed support for the legislation.

Obviously, the bill hasn’t passed to become law in the previous four sessions, but Allen suggested that a renewed drive for immigration reform could create an opening.

“The president has called for us to pass meaningful immigration reform in this congress, and frankly, that should be bipartisan, and we’re ready to open those negotiations,” Allen said. “This thing needs to be fixed at the border. … It’s horrible.”

Immigration reform bills were moving through committees as of last week, he said.

“I would hope we could come to some agreement on, again, securing the border, and then how many people do we want to allow each year to go through the citizenship process, and get rid of what we term illegal immigration. …,” Allen said. “It’s sad that they have to live in the shadows.”

Mentioning his February trip to the Mexican border near McAllen, Texas, the Georgia congressman from Augusta said undocumented immigrants become “indentured servants to cartels” responsible for smuggling people as well as illegal drugs across the border.

“The cartels own the border on both sides; we don’t. … And something’s got to be done about them,” he said.

The WOTUS rule

The other issue Allen talked about as of interest to 12th District farmers was a recent congressional effort, which Biden vetoed, to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest interpretation of the “WOTUS” rule. This defines what streams and other bodies of water constitute “the Waters of the United States” for enforcement of the Clean Water Act.

By a vote of 227-198, the House passed a Congressional Review Act resolution March 9 to roll back the EPA’s definition. The Senate adopted the resolution by a 53-43 vote before Biden vetoed the joint resolution on April 6.  Only a simple majority vote in each chamber is required to strike down a regulation under the Congressional Review Act, but the resolutions are still subject to presidential veto, and a two-thirds majority vote is then required to override a veto.

A House override attempt then failed April 18. The vote was 227-196, or almost 54% in favor. Those voting for the resolution included all but one of the Republicans present and 10 Democrats.

“Obviously, it was under the Congressional Review Act, it was overwhelmingly bipartisan, and the president vetoed it,” Allen said. “The EPA under this rule has the authority if they GPS and a mud puddle appears on your property, all of a sudden you can’t use that property if they determine – and they can determine – it is a navigable waterway. How absurd is that.”

Supporters of the rule would call the “puddle” example an overstatement, he acknowledged. But Allen says the “navigable waters” of the United States should be defined by Congress and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in terms of what is truly navigable, and not left to the EPA to decide.

“My interest in this, as well as the district’s interest in this, is that, you know, agriculture is our largest industry, and this could particularly impose a burden on our farmers and their ability to produce the food required by our district, our state and this nation.”

Allen has been talking about “WOTUS” off and on again since he was first elected. He also took part in Republican-led efforts to block the EPA’s interpretation of the rule during former President Barack Obama’s second term.

“The last time we were able to stop this through the courts, where we got an injunction against it, and then the next administration (former President Donald Trump’s) went back to the legislation as Congress wrote it, and now the Biden administration is paying no attention to the people’s will,” Allen said.

But the EPA on its website, particularly the page www.epa.gov/wotus and its links, traces the complex history of the rule from the 1970s to the continuing court challenges.

In his veto statement, Biden said the resolution would have left Americans without a clear definition of “Waters of the United States.” The EPA definition, the president argues, actually clarifies matters.

“The increased uncertainty caused by H.J. Res. 27 would threaten economic growth, including for agriculture, local economies, and downstream communities,” Biden said in the statement. “Farmers would be left wondering whether artificially irrigated areas remain excluded or not. Construction crews would be left wondering whether their waterfilled gravel pits remain excluded or not.”