250 Congressional Offices Lobbied During ANLA Legislative Conference

Attendees at the 2007 Legislative Conference visited approximately 250 House and Senate offices representing 40 states. Attendees visited Capitol Hill to lobby Congress for a solution to the labor and immigration crisis and to support specialty crop provisions in the 2007 Farm Bill reauthorization. Research funding and water policy were also addressed. 

United States Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) both addressed the attendees, encouraging them to maintain their efforts to achieve a necessary solution for securing a viable workforce for our country's agricultural and seasonal industries.

"This event took place at a critical time," says the American Nursery and Landscape Association's (ANLA) Vice President of Government Relations, Craig Regelbrugge. "Our attendees were the first broad industry delegation, following the recent failed Senate vote on comprehensive immigration reform, to discuss all aspects of the immigration issue and to tell Congress that failure or inaction are not acceptable.”

Addressing the Legislative Conference attendees, Secretary Gutierrez, himself an immigrant to the U.S., said, "This isn’t over. Think about how you can have a louder and louder voice. We must achieve immigration reform for our national and our economic security. History will show that you were on the right side.”  Confirming the importance of continued lobbying, the very evening the conference concluded Senators Larry Craig and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) engaged in a 40-minute debate on the Senate floor in an attempt to introduce AgJOBS provisions, agricultural worker immigration reform, in response to anti-immigrant language introduced into the Farm Bill.

“This unexpected opportunity, while not immediately successful, confirms the importance of steady vigilance in our lobbying efforts to encourage our representatives to support this legislation," Regelbrugge said.

The 2007 Legislative Conference brought together eight partner organizations to lobby Congress for green industry interests. The partners include ANLA, OFA (An Association of Floriculture Professionals), the Irrigation Association (IA), the Perennial Plant Association (PPA), ANLA’s Lighthouse Partner state associations, the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI), The National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA), and the National Association of Plant Patent Owners (NAPPO). 

“It is critically important for the green industry to come together on legislative issues," said Dave Bender, executive director of Lighthouse Partner, the Illinois Green Industry Association. "Only with our combined forces will we achieve victory on the issues that affect all businesses whose success depends on growing, selling and maintaining plants.”