Rep. Mark Amodei — who represents Nevada’s second congressional district which encompasses the whole state outside of Clark County, i.e. northern Nevada and all of the so-called “rurals” — is none too pleased with an attempt by the Department of Labor to insert itself into rural life via new guidelines.
From his office today:
Amodei statement on Department of Labor farm chores rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-2) issued the following statement regarding the Department of Labor’s proposed rule for children working on family farms, which would prohibit them from the “storing, marketing and transporting of farm product raw materials.” The new regulations would also reject safety training and certification taught by such American institutions as 4-H and Future Farmers of America in order to replace it with a 90-hour federal government training course.
Congressman Amodei:
“I’m sure the Nevada members of 4-H and FFA are very impressed with President Obama’s understanding of farming and ranching in our state. I’m astounded at the tone deafness of the administration in attempting to brush aside a collective 200 years of agricultural experience and tradition.”
The Labor Department has lately been working on new regulations governing agricultural work by minors.
Among other things, the new rules would update the list of farm jobs that children under age 16 could not be hired to do by non-family farms. Among the prohibited tasks are pesticide handling, timber operations, and work in and around manure pits and storage bins. Farm workers under age 16 would also no longer be able to cultivate, harvest, or cure tobacco.
Agricultural work accounts for 75 percent of the job-related fatalities for workers under age 16, according to Labor Department statistics.
Under fire from numerous lawmakers from farm-states, the Department of Labor has published a fact sheet about its proposed regulations.
