Rep. Greg Stanton today held a roundtable with representatives of the Arizona and Maricopa County Farm Bureaus and East Valley agricultural business owners to discuss Congressional action as the industry grapples with historic drought and a labor shortage driven by a broken immigration system.
During the meeting, the Arizona Farm Bureau presented Stanton with the “Friend of the Farm Bureau” award, a distinction he has earned twice while serving in Congress.
“Arizona farmers and ranchers keep our families fed and contribute more than $23 billion to Arizona’s economy,” Stanton said. “It’s hard, honest work that feeds Arizona, and that’s why I’ll always be proud to fight for our farmers and Arizona’s agriculture future in Congress.”
“For the second Congress in a row, we are proud to present Congressman Stanton with American Farm Bureau’s “Friend of Farm Bureau” Award. His voting record on issues including rural broadband expansion, disaster relief for small businesses, and infrastructure funding proves that he will fight to protect agriculture’s future in Arizona. We were grateful for today’s opportunity to thank him for his advocacy and discuss the needs of Arizona’s farmers and ranchers as they face severe drought in the West. We look forward to continuing to work with Congressman Stanton to ensure a bright future for agriculture in Arizona and across the nation,” Philip Bashaw, Arizona Farm Bureau CEO, said.
Stanton has worked to mitigate the effects of the historic drought in Arizona. Stanton introduced and successfully legislation to create an Arizona water infrastructure authority, with a focus on small and rural communities. Since authorization of the authority in 2020, more than $24 million in federal funds have been delivered to 16 water projects throughout Arizona.
He authored, and passed through the House, a bill to provide $500 million to protect water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell, and also voted to approve $4 billion in drought relief efforts in the Inflation Reduction Act. In 2019, he led efforts to pass the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan Authorization Act—and helped secure more than $350 million to implement it.
On the House Judiciary Committee and as the co-chair of the New Democrat Coalition’s Immigration Task Force, Stanton led the House in passing the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act. This legislation makes meaningful reforms to the H-2A agricultural guestworker program and creates a first-of-its-kind, merit-based visa program specifically designed for the nation’s agricultural sector—ensuring we have a stable, legal workforce for our farms and ranches for years to come.