Move beyond rhetoric to action, UFW’s Rodriguez will urge President Bush

   Two days after President Bush praised Latino immigrants in a speech via satellite to the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez will use an address Saturday morning before LULAC’s San Antonio, Texas convention to urge fellow Latinos to watch what Mr. Bush and Republican leaders “do and not just what they say” on immigration matters. The text of Rodriguez¹s speech at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center follows:
 
     The Republican leadership in the United States Senate has pulled out all the stops to prevent a vote on even the most basic proposal to fairly and rationally reform our nation’s immigration laws.

    On Thursday, in a stunning move, Republican leaders decided they would rather sacrifice their corporate interest bill to limit class action lawsuits than allow a vote on AgJobs, broad bipartisan legislation that would allow 500,000 farm workers here now to earn the legal right to permanently stay in this country by continuing to work in agriculture.
 
    AgJobs has 63 Senate co-sponsors and more than 400 organizations supporting it, from employer and labor to immigrant rights and religious groups. 

    In a speech delivered via satellite on Thursday to the LULAC convention in San Antonio, President Bush declared that "America is a nation of open doors, and we want it to remain that way. Immigrants bring great strength,” the President added. “For this administration, el sueno Americano es para todos (the American dream is for everyone) and we all deserve a chance at the American dream."

    Yet at the same time President Bush was voicing those nice words to LULAC and speaking about the need for immigration reform, he did nothing to help us get a vote on the historic AgJobs bill. With the AgJobs bill on the Senate floor, this week was the first time during the Bush presidency that the Republicans could have done more than just say the right thing. It was the first time they could have matched their rhetoric with action by enthusiastically supporting the AgJobs measure, which is also supported by many Republican senators.

    But while President Bush was addressing the LULAC convention, his ally, Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, was working to prevent undocumented farm workers from earning a path to citizenship. Here¹s how.
 
    The number one legislative priority for big corporations and the congressional Republican leadership is a bill to change the law on class action lawsuits. The chief Senate Republican author of the AgJobs bill, Senator Larry Craig of Idaho, sought to attach the AgJobs proposal as an amendment to the class-action bill. Senate GOP leader Frist refused to allow the AgJobs amendment, even though he was ready to permit additional amendments to the class action bill dealing with other unrelated topics.

    Senate Republican leaders moved to invoke cloture, or close off debate, so AgJobs could not be considered as an amendment to the class-action bill. With virtually united support from Democrats and even support from some Republicans, backers of the AgJobs bill succeeded in defeating the cloture  motion to end debate and consideration of amendments. Then, rather than work through amendments, including AgJobs, Republican leaders pulled the bill..

    Well, because we are organized, this week we showed the powers that control the U.S. Senate that we are a force that cannot be ignored. Farm workers, the poorest and most abused working people in this country, along with their allies from the labor, Latino, and immigrant rights communities, demonstrated that we can no longer be disregarded. We stopped big business from being handed a victory at the expense of farm workers. And we will be back, with or without the support of this President. We need your help to win this fight.

    Please call President Bush. Ask him where he was when farm workers and all Latinos needed his help when it really mattered. Call upon President Bush to support the landmark AgJobs bill. Tell the Republican leadership that we are watching what they do and not just what they say.