Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (IL-14) today released the following statement after the Department of Labor withdrew a proposal to ban children from working on farms.

“Family farmers spoke up on this issue, and the Administration heard them loud and clear. Illinois is losing farmers every year and had the original rule from the Department of Labor gone through, it would have been even more difficult to start an agriculture career in our state.

“As I stated last December with several other cosigners in a letter to Secretary Solis, ‘Training the next generation of farmers and ranchers is necessary to ensuring a stable food supply for our nation.’ For this reason, I’m very relieved to see that the rule was withdrawn, and I invite Illinois farmers to continue communicating with me when Washington is holding them back. This is how the system is supposed to work, and in this case, it did.”

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