Good afternoon. I would like to welcome everyone to this hearing of the Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee on the topic of utilizing innovation and technology in voluntary conservation. This hearing provides an opportunity to highlight new practices, innovative approaches to using tried and true methods, and advancing technology as it applies to voluntary conservation efforts. We know that vol... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good Morning. I want to start today by thanking you for joining the Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit Subcommittee for our first meeting of 2016. As many of you may remember, the full House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing last July on the implementation of Dodd Frank over the five years since it was passed. That hearing highlighted some of the remaining challenge... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: I am pleased that Secretary Vilsack could join us for this annual hearing to assess the economic conditions in farm country. Thank you for joining us, Mr. Secretary. In assessing the situation, I think it is fair to say that America’s farmers and ranchers are falling on some very hard times right now. Worse yet, I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. To q... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good afternoon and welcome to today’s Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee hearing. Today we will be evaluating our preparation in the event of an introduction of a highly contagious animal disease: Foot and Mouth Disease - or FMD. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to be here and I want to thank, in particular, our witnesses for their participation and valuab... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good morning. I thank Administrator McCarthy for being here today. There is a reason a top issue for nearly every Member of the Agriculture Committee is related to the regulatory agenda of the Environmental Protection Agency. Many members of this committee believe that over the years, EPA has pursued an agenda seemingly absent any recognition of the consequences for rural Amer... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning and welcome to the Agriculture Committee’s Hearing to Review the 2016 Agenda for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Today’s hearing is held against a bleak backdrop for many commodity producers, especially those in farm country. The past two years have seen a dramatic fall in commodity prices, across the board, creating significant operational ... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good morning and welcome to today’s Nutrition Subcommittee hearing. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to be here and I want to thank, in particular, our witnesses for their participation and valuable insights. It’s easy to think of malnutrition only in terms of the quantity of food intake: Is someone eating enough? But there’s another crucial element that we can’t over... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good morning and welcome. Today, we will hear from producers involved in direct marketing ventures, such as local farmers markets, direct to restaurant or grocery store sales, value added sales, and community supported agriculture. Entrepreneurial efforts of individual producers certainly drive success in direct marketing ventures. Nevertheless, as producers seek to develop ne... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning everyone. As you all know, we have a Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research subcommittee hearing on “Opportunities and Challenges in Direct Marketing” coming up in a few minutes, so I will keep my comments brief. The Committee’s budget views and estimates letter that we have before us this morning respectfully requests that the Budget Committee giv... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good morning, happy new year, and welcome to today’s Nutrition Subcommittee hearing. I want to thank everyone for taking the time to be here and I want to thank, in particular, our witnesses for their participation. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is by far the nation’s largest federal food assistance program. Last year, we began a review of the past, p... Read more »
