Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning, and welcome to today’s Nutrition Subcommittee hearing. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to be here, particularly our three witnesses. As you know, over the past two and a half years the committee has undertaken a comprehensive review of SNAP. The review has helped provide members with a better understanding of SNAP, the population it serves,... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Thank you for joining us today. Yesterday, the full committee held a productive discussion on how technology is influencing specialty crop production. Today, our subcommittee will explore how promising new information technologies and the increasing utilization of data in agriculture is influencing the future of farming. It is a critical time for everyone involved... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning and thank you all for joining us. Specialty crops play an important role in the success of U.S. agriculture and are an essential component of our national food policy—the farm bill. Diversity among the crops—ranging from fruits and vegetables, to tree nuts, to nursery crops and floriculture—makes the task of developing the specialty crop safety net pa... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning. Thank you for being here today. Today’s hearing builds on the important work done by the CEEC subcommittee last year, under the helm of Chairman Austin Scott and Ranking Member David Scott. I want to thank them for their work examining how well our regulators responded to the financial crisis. While those hearings were focused on past performance, to... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning and thank you all for joining us. As we continue working to craft the next farm bill, we turn our attention to one of the primary drivers of innovation and productivity in our 21st century agricultural economy – university research. For more than 100 years, our producers have relied on investments in agricultural research to drive efficiencies and gai... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning and welcome to today's hearing. Nearly 70 years ago, my predecessors exhibited exceptional foresight through their investment in watershed infrastructure projects. The lasting benefits of those investments through the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations program—also commonly known as P.L. 566—have allowed NRCS to partner with local communities t... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning, and welcome to today’s Nutrition Subcommittee hearing on SNAP technology and modernization. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to be here, particularly our four witnesses. As many of you know, our committee has conducted a thorough review of SNAP over the past two years. I want to take a moment to share why this was done and what we hope to ac... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning and thank you all for joining us. Before we get started, I wanted to extend my condolences to our friends at Didion Milling. John Didion testified before the committee in September 2015 about the important work they do in milling grain into specially designed food aid products. Unfortunately, one week ago today, Didion Milling experienced a catastroph... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Mr. Secretary, welcome to you, sir. We have visited many times before — including prior to your taking office — but allow me to officially declare this committee’s sincere congratulations on becoming our nation’s 31st secretary of agriculture. We are eager to work with you and are certain you will uphold the office with the utmost respect and concern for rural Ame... Read more »
Today we will consider H.R. 1177, the Removing Outdated Restrictions to Allow for Job Growth Act. In the early 1980s, the City of Old Town, Maine, purchased land from the federal government to be part of the Old Town Airport. The deed included a restriction limiting use of the land to a municipal airport or other public use. This bill allows the City of Old Town to petition the Secretary of Agricu... Read more »
