Dianne Feinstein

“ Those who doubt the supremacy of the ballot over the bullet can never diminish the power engendered by non-violent struggles for justice and equality like the one that made this day possible. No triumph tainted by brutality could ever match the sweet victory of this hour and of what it means to those who marched and died to make it a reality. ”

“ Mr. President. Today has been a dark day that will take a long time and a lot of work to overcome. It has been a day truly unworthy of our Nation.
I thank the U.S. Capitol Police, the U.S. Secret Service, the law enforcement officers from Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia, the National Guard, and others who have protected this institution and the U.S. Congress today.
There will be time to say more about today’s events, but I rise now to speak about the unprecedented actions today to attempt to undermine a fairly and properly conducted democratic election. ”

“ Weigh in with the Senate and say: Put AgJOBS on the border security bill.
We have 1 million people who usually work in agriculture. I must tell you they are dominantly undocumented. Senator Craig pointed out the reason they are undocumented is because American workers will not do the jobs.
When I started this I did not believe it, so we called all the welfare departments of the major agriculture counties in California and asked – can you provide agricultural workers? Not one worker came from the people who were on welfare who were willing to do this kind of work. ”

“ At the same time, the United States should also lead an effort with China to create a public-private partnership fund to prioritize bilateral global warming projects.
China’s coal use outpaces that of the United States, EU, and Japan combined. Coal accounts for 70 percent of China’s energy needs. China is building a new pulverized coal power plant every week. China will soon pass the United States as the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. If China continues its course, it could cause carbon dioxide levels to quadruple. ”

“ You can pick up newspapers, the San Jose Mercury News, headline: "Worker Shortage Crippling Farmers." It goes on and depicts it.
Morgan Hill: Farmers are reporting a shortage of labor to harvest crops forcing them to take huge losses. The impact is mixed, varying with the amount and type of crops a farmer is growing. Those growing more fragile crops such as strawberries and peppers have been scrambling to find enough workers to pick the harvest.
This goes on to say they cannot harvest their yields. Labor pains increasing for the great San Joaquin Valley that Senator Craig spoke about. ”

“ For Congress to challenge the legitimacy of electoral votes because President Trump is upset that he lost far exceeds our role as envisioned by our Founding Fathers.
These challenges threaten the very core of a functioning democracy—that voters and votes matter. ”

“ Each of us is confronted with a choice: a choice that will impact not only our future, but the futures of our children and grandchildren. Do we continue with a business-as-usual attitude? Or do we make the changes necessary to prevent catastrophe? ”

“ It is very hard for a farmer to hire a documented worker. It is very hard to find that documented worker. So if they are going to produce they have to find the labor somewhere.
My State produces one-half of the Nation's fruits, vegetables and nuts. One-half comes from California . We produce 350 different crops. We have an opportunity now, with this bill, to get adequate labor for this harvest season on this border security bill. ”

“ And Los Angeles has become a “Climate Action Leader” and has registered its greenhouse gases and will be seeking to reduce its emissions. These efforts are so important, and I want to encourage you to support them.
So that’s the electricity and transportation sectors. But America needs to become much more energy efficient as well – both in terms of green building codes and individual conservation and energy use.
An aggressive energy national efficiency program could prevent a substantial amount of carbon dioxide going into the air. ”

“ Perhaps the most impacted are the organic farms, which are highly labor-intensive. Hand-picked crops such as at Lakeside Organic Gardens, which happens to be in my State, are suffering as fields go untended and acres have been torn up because there is no one to harvest them. The situation is so bad that this particular farmer, Dick Peixoto, has been forced to tear out nearly 30 acres of vegetables and has about 100 acres that are compromised because there is no one to weed them. ”

“ Under our system of government, States bear the primary responsibility for runninq elections and certifying election results, and that is exactly what we have seen—all 50 States and the District of Columbia have certified the results of the 2020 Presidential election. ”

“ Last week I visited a Silicon Valley start-up — Bloom Energy — that is developing clean fuel cells that will produce both electricity and hydrogen to fuel our vehicles. The fuel cell has cathode ink on one side, anode ink on the other, separated by zirconia sand covered plastic, which becomes the catalyst. The size is about 4 inches by 4 inches. It alone can power a 30 watt light bulb for 5 years. ”

“ I say to the Republican leader of the Senate, do not turn your back on the farm community of America . This community needs undocumented labor to plant, to prune, to clear out weeds, and to harvest. That has been the case for years. Give it certitude. A pilot program; 5 years; 1.5 million blue cards over the 5 years; specific requirements; taxes paid; filing with the Government; fines paid. But people can work and harvest the crops. ”

“ The United States emits some 25 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases, and we’re 4 percent of the world’s population. So we are the big producer.
The largest contributor to global warming is electricity generation — 33 percent – followed by transportation — 28 percent. These two sectors combine to make up 61 percent of the problem.
The remaining contributors are:
Industry – 20 percent Agriculture – 7 percent Commercial – 6.5 percent Residential – 6.5 percent Let me be clear: there is no silver bullet. There is no one thing that we can do to solve the problem. ”

“ As the border with Mexico tightens, and Congress continues to drag its feet on passing comprehensive immigration reform, farmers and labor experts say that the California farm labor pool is rapidly shrinking. A lag in reporting labor statistics makes it hard to pinpoint exactly how short the labor supply really is, but many growers put the gap again at about 10 to 20 percent shortage Statewide. ”

“ So the goal should be to stabilize carbon dioxide at 450 parts per million by 2050. This could contain further warming to 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Earth has warmed 1 degree in the past century, and we are now seeing the dramatic effects:
Oceans are rising; coral reefs are dying; species are disappearing; glaciers are melting. We learned just last week that Greenland is now losing 20% more mass than it receives from new snowfall each year. And it will shrink further as the planet warms. ”

“ The second step requires that a blue cardholder must work in American agriculture for an additional 5 years and work 100 days a year, or 3 years at 150 workdays a year; again, a blue card, biometric, would be documented. For the first time you would know who the worker is. The farmer would have certainty that he can hire that worker. If the worker meets this expected work requirement, they will then be eligible for a green card. ”

“ There is broad agreement that the Earth will only get hotter. The question is how hot and why?
First, how hot?
If we act now and further temperature increases are kept to 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of this century, the damages – though significant – will be manageable. But if we don’t act, and warming increases by 5 to 9 degrees by the end of this century, the damage will be catastrophic and irreversible. ”

“ The Valley is starting to get into the table grape harvest in the Arvin area. The word I am hearing is that the table grapes may take workers from tree fruits because the free fruit workers are only working so many hours in the day because of the demand. Union-produced labor shortages became more pronounced in the coming weeks with the start of the raisin grape harvest. ”

“ Some fields in the Pajaro Valley in Santa Cruz County are being abandoned because farmers can't find enough workers. Farmers in that area say there are 10 to 20 percent fewer workers available to harvest strawberries, raspberries and vegetable crops. That is the great Pajaro Valley that produces artichokes and acres and acres of row crops. They say we have sustained strawberry and raspberry losses due to shortage of labor. ”

“ For a State as big as mine, there is an immigrant community which is professionally adept at this kind of work. They can pick, they can sort, they can prune, they can harvest – virtually better than anybody. ”

“ The fourth bill will be a national energy efficiency program — including strict appliance and building standards and requiring utilities to use energy efficiency measures to meet a portion of their demand. ”

“ It has come out of part of the immigration bill.
Senator Craig and I have worked to see that the amendment at the desk remedies all the problems that were brought up in the last floor discussion. It is ready to go. It can be added to this bill. It will pass in the House. Why won't the leadership allow this amendment? It would be one thing if there was not a crisis out there. It is another thing if there is a crisis. And there is a crisis. Everyone in this body knows that. Everyone knows farmers are scrambling. Everyone knows farmers are losing their crops. ”

“ But virtually every State represented in this Chamber can come forward with a like amount of people. Virtually every Member in this Chamber can come forward with problems they are having with harvesting at this particular point in time. ”