RESUME
Name: John Farner
Title: Director of legislative relations.
Firm: ANLA, 1000 Vermont Ave. N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 789-5980; jfarner@anla.org; www.anla.org.

Do you have a response to this article? Send an e-mail to Todd Davis.

Rather than coming up with a compromise on the two group's views on immigration reform, the House and Senate called for hearings this summer. Many in the industry have questions on how these hearings work, and who's allowed to be involved. I spoke with ANLA's John Farner to get some details.

Q. What were the main reasons for Congress members to arrange these immigration hearings?

A. Though it's very difficult to get into the heads of the House Republican leadership on the issue of immigration reform, the reasons for holding hearings throughout the summer can be seen as both substantive and political.

Ultimately, the House Republican leadership wants to buy some time to get a grasp on the political ramifications of acting on immigration before the 2006 November elections. Some House members see the hearings as a chance to attack the Senate-passed bill, while others want the chance to air a range of views on good policy.

Whether these hearings spur action soon, or serve to delay action until a lame duck session of Congress, remains to be seen.

Q. How do these hearings work? Do Congress members set the agenda?

A. House Republican leadership is working closely with the chairs of the specific committees that have any jurisdiction over the components of the Senate-passed comprehensive bill to formulate the topics, locations and substance of the hearings. However, once the initial committee schedule is set by the leadership, it's up to each individual committee to set the tone and direction of its respective hearing. To be frank, some are open and some are closed and hostile.

The Senate is also holding hearings. They will generally be more sympathetic to the position of our industry. For example, during the July 5 hearing in Philadelphia, Sens. Arlen Specter [R-Pa.] and Ted Kennedy [D-Mass.] were the only members present and wholeheartedly agreed with the panel witnesses who called for a comprehensive approach to immigration reform.

However, other committees, such as the Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Charles Grassley [R-Iowa], and the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, chaired by Sen. John Cornyn [R-Texas], will put a different spin on the issue.

Q. How will House and Senate hearings likely differ?

A. The House and Senate hearings will each reflect the position of the chair of the committee who is conducting the hearing. However, generally, the House hearings will be billed by leadership as emphasizing the problems with the Senate bill.

Because Sen. Bill Frist [R-Tenn.] voted for the Senate bill, we won't see the same type of negativity out of the Senate leadership. The Senate hearings should also be more open than what we've seen come out of the House so far.

Q. Who can attend, and how can people find out if there will be any hearings in their areas?

A. Generally speaking, anyone should -- I emphasize should -- be able to attend the hearings, if they are able to get there on time and enough space is allowed in the room where the hearing is being held.

Most of the hearings are broadcast on C-SPAN or www.c-span.org, so much of our industry will be able to follow exactly what is being said in these hearings. However, being there is not the same as speaking. Unlike "town meetings" often held by members of Congress, most hearings will have a set witness list and no chance for unscheduled speakers.

Both the House and Senate are being fairly closed when it comes to announcing the different hearing locations, topics, etc. However, we at ANLA are working very hard to keep in close contacts with both Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate to keep an eye on when and where these hearings will take place.

In doing so, we are working closely with our industry's state associations to ensure everyone is aware that a hearing is coming up in his or her backyard.

Q. Does ANLA plan to have representatives at most of these hearings?

A. We will continue to work with leadership and committee staff in trying to get our story told and our arguments heard as an official part of the hearings.

We have had quite a bit of success placing witnesses in the hearings so far. If we cannot, we will tell our story outside the room by joining with our coalition partners in press events that highlight the rest of the story.

Q. What are some likely outcomes from these hearings?

A. It's very hard to say what, if any, results will come from these hearings. From what we've seen, many members of Congress have made up their minds and these hearings aren't doing much to sway their opinions.

However, these hearings have placed an emphasis that the level of knowledge about the issue and its impact on the U.S. economy is very low. It is up to industries such as ours to highlight the risks of an enforcement-only approach.

Our message is as follows: Our industry, as employers, is following the letter of the law and in doing so, runs the risk of losing the great majority of our work force. This is because Congress cannot agree upon a real, workable, comprehensive approach to the reform of our broken immigration laws.

Q. Do we have realistic expectations of getting compromise Senate/House bill put together before the November elections?

A. The expectation that a bill would be produced before the November elections was very low as of the beginning of July. Since, then a few members of both the House and Senate have noted small victories and compromises here and there that have allowed some members to indicate that we have a chance that something may be done before November. It is still a long shot, but possible.

Regardless, this will be a key issue in the November elections and we need to make sure that all candidates, whether they are incumbents or challengers, understand that our industry will be taking a hard look at their position and votes when we go to the polls. Our biggest challenge is to avoid the issue being punted -- again -- to next year.

Q. Do you think the end compromise bill will ultimately be beneficial or detrimental to the nursery business?

A. To answer that would be like shaking the Magic 8-Ball and it answering, "Reply hazy, try again."

However, our association and our industry have been at it for years and have built up a lot of credibility throughout Congress. Members of Congress generally understand the need for immigrant guest workers, especially in agriculture and seasonal jobs.

I will be very disappointed if Congress were to pass a bill that does not somehow address the specific needs of agriculture as well as the need for seasonal workers. However, I have seen stranger things occur.

"Enforcement only" is a real risk. We cannot let our guard down, nor can we be apathetic during this debate. We've come a long way over the years to get to this point and we're hoping that the payout will be a good one for the future of our industry.

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© 2006 Branch-Smith Publishing