Remarks as prepared: This hearing on the financial health of farm country will come to order. During the Farm Bill debate, we heard a good bit about the relatively high prices farmers were receiving for their crops, and the suggestion was made by at least some folks that it was as good a time as any to discontinue the Farm Bill. Now that we are in year two of the Farm Bill, I thought it would be a... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Welcome to the next hearing in our review of the Past, Present, and Future of SNAP. Today we’ll discuss and examine the government’s duplication and inefficiencies of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Taxpayers and recipients deserve a thoughtful and thorough review of SNAP. They also deserve to know its relationship with other nutrition programs and how that affe... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The National Forest Foundation has a simple mission – bring people together to restore and enhance our national forests and grasslands. Through the Foundation, we are able to leverage private and federal dollars to support our nation’s great forests in a variety of ways. These include planting trees, preserving wildlife habitat, surveying streams, rest... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning. We have under consideration the bill, H.R. 2393. This bill is narrowly drafted to eliminate the requirement for country of origin labeling for meat products from cattle and hogs for which the WTO ruled against the program. We also eliminate the requirement for chicken, which faced high costs and little if any quantifiable benefits, and asked to have ... Read more »
Good morning. Thank you all for coming today and welcome. Today, the Committee is examining H.R. 2289, the Commodity End-User Relief Act. The bill before us represents the bipartisan work of dozens of members of this Committee over the past three years to address the challenges and uncertainties that end-users are facing in derivatives markets. I’d like to start by thanking the leadership of the C... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good afternoon. I would like to welcome everyone to this hearing in which we will continue to examine aspects of pollinator health. As many of you are aware, the Agriculture Committee has had a long interest in examining and promoting pollinator health. In both the 2008 and 2014 farm bills, provisions were included to authorize pollinator research and extension programs, impro... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Our next order of business is to consider a bill to reauthorize the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999. This bill, like the underlying act and each subsequent reauthorization has been the result of dialogue and consensus between livestock producers and meat packers. We fully understand that government mandates like price reporting can be onerous, and that not all indust... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Our next order of business is to consider a bill to reauthorize the United States Grain Standards Act. As our grain standards program nears its 100th anniversary, we wish to recognize the importance this program has played in establishing value and price-discovery in the U.S. grain and oilseed marketplace. U.S. competitiveness in global markets, as well as stakeholders ranging... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good afternoon. I want to welcome everyone to this hearing of the Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee. The health of our national forests is an issue of vital importance for rural America. Not only are national forests a source of immense natural beauty, but they provide us with natural resources, healthy watersheds, recreational opportunities, and wildlife habitat. But, pe... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good afternoon. I would like to welcome our witnesses to this discussion regarding reauthorization of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act. First enacted in 1999, the Act was developed in response to changing markets with an increasing number of animals being sold via marketing arrangements under which prices were not publicly disclosed. As these structural changes continued,... Read more »
