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Opening Statements

Opening Statement of Chairman Lucas at Public Hearing to Review Pending Free Trade Agreements

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov Good morning. I’d like to thank Secretary Vilsack and Ambassador Kirk and our industry representatives for joining us today to discuss free trade. As we know, there are three pending free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama. Unfortunately it has been nearly four years since these agreements were signed and the adm...

Opening Statement of Chairman Lucas at Business Meeting to Consider H.R. 1573

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov Today, we’re moving forward with legislation that is a product of four hearings in this Committee. We’ve heard from agricultural cooperatives, electric utilities, large global banks, small community banks and farm credit banks. We’ve heard from manufacturers, pension plans, mutual funds and a global oil and gas producer. And w...

Opening Statement of Chairman Lucas at Joint Public Hearing to Review the Costs of Federal Regulatory Dysfunction to American Jobs, Agriculture, Health & Species

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov Thank you, Chairman Hastings and Ranking Member Markey for working with Ranking Member Peterson and me on this important topic. Though joint hearings represent a logistical challenge, the interactions and contradictions between the laws and programs under our various jurisdictions suggest that effective oversight will require ...

Opening Statement of Chairman Lucas at Public Hearing Defining the Market: Entity and Product Classifications in Title VII of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov Today, this Committee continues its series of hearings to review the implementation of the derivatives provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. Already, we’ve heard from diverse market participants, from farmer cooperatives to manufacturers to global financial institutions. Rarely does Congress consider an issue th...

Opening Statement of Chairman Lucas at Business Meeting to Consider the Budget Views and Estimates Letter of the Committee on Agriculture for the Agencies and Programs Under Its Jurisdiction for FY12

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov The Committee meets today to consider the views and estimates that we will communicate to the Budget Committee regarding the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2012. I want to thank Ranking Member Peterson for the help he has provided in this effort. We all know that the fiscal crisis faced by this country is ...

Opening Statement of Chairman Lucas at the Public Hearing to Review the Impact of EPA Regulations on Agriculture

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov Good afternoon. I would like to thank Administrator Jackson for being here today. I know there are quite a few committees in Congress that have invited you to appear before them and I expect your popularity as a witness will not diminish anytime soon. There is a reason the top issue for nearly every member of the Agriculture C...

Opening Statement of Chairman Lucas at Business Meeting to Consider H.R. 872, The Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov Good morning. We have before us today a critical piece of legislation. It is the result of a bipartisan oversight process that began nearly two years ago and culminated in a rare joint hearing held last month between subcommittees of the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. I am part...

Opening Statement of Chairman Lucas at Public Hearing to Review the State of the Farm Economy

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov This morning’s hearing focuses on the state of the farm economy. With all the bad news out there today, it is nice to have something good to report: the state of the U.S. farm economy is strong. Our nation’s producers are generally experiencing good prices and solid production. USDA is forecasting record high income and export...

Opening Statement of Chairman Lucas at the Joint public hearing to consider reducing the regulatory burdens posed by the case National Cotton Council v. EPA (6th Cir. 2009)

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov I would like to thank the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the two Subcommittees (Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Nutrition and Horticulture and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment) for holding this hearing. This is an issue of critical importance to all of o...

Floor Statement of Chairman Lucas on House Resolution 72, Review of Federal Regulations and Their Impact on Agriculture and Rural Economies

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184 tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov Mr. Chairman, Today I rise in support of H.RES. 72. American agriculture is under attack. Every day the administration seems to demonstrate just how vastly disconnected it is from the folks who feed us. The administration fails to realize that rural America’s economy is dependant on agriculture. The in-your-face-approach that ...