September 24, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 166 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page H4895]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             PROMOTING FARM AND AGRICULTURAL WORKER SAFETY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Hagedorn) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HAGEDORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of bipartisan 
legislation, the Farm and Agricultural Worker Safety Education Act, 
which I am proud to introduce with my friend from Texas (Mr. Cuellar).
  The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need to ensure that we 
have a safe and reliable workforce to maintain our food supply. In 
order to win the battle with COVID-19, we must guarantee that the most 
up-to-date and science-based information is readily available and 
accessible for community leaders, educators, and rural businesses.
  Our legislation will help guarantee that timely, relevant health and 
safety guidelines are reaching our rural workforce and communities by 
allowing higher learning institutions to apply for grants to distribute 
best practices and safety guidance to help farms, ag workers, and 
others who conduct business during this pandemic.
  When we think about best practices and safety in the rural areas, we 
often think about tractor accidents and how to stop the farmers from 
being hurt in grain bin incidents and things of that nature.
  We haven't really delved into this idea that we have to look at the 
health of our employees, the workers who are in the packing plants, the 
folks driving the trucks, the people at the distribution plants, and 
the people on the farms.

                              {time}  1015

  We have learned during this pandemic that when our health workers and 
when our workers on the farms and everything are in trouble, we are in 
trouble. We had shortages in our grocery stores of meat products, and 
that was not due to any problems having a supply of hogs, for instance. 
We had excess supply. But the folks who did the work at the packing 
plants were down, and we had disruptions, which led to those types of 
shortages.
  So to make sure that we ensure our food supply and that we have 
everyone in as safe a condition as possible, we want to have these 
grants and best practices moving forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join 
me in supporting this important initiative that will help ensure the 
safety of our farmers in rural communities as we work to keep 
rebuilding our economy.

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