Chairman Bob Goodlatte issued the following statement today regarding the announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of a second confirmed case of mad cow disease in the United States. "Last Friday's announcement of a second confirmed case of mad cow disease in two years demonstrates that the safeguards and firewalls that were put in place years ago are operating well. The animal in... Read more »
House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Bob Goodlatte will lead a Congressional delegation to Alberta, Canada this weekend to meet with government officials on issues related to the U.S. and Canadian beef and meat industries and softwood lumber. The delegation plans to meet with government officials, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), and forest industry representatives. Additionally, del... Read more »
House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Bob Goodlatte today chaired a hearing to review and recognize the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service in its centennial year. Witnesses testified about developments and improvements made within the Forest Service over the years, as well as the challenges and obstacles still facing it. Illustrating the increased scope of the Forest Service ... Read more »
House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Bob Goodlatte today issued the following statement regarding the agreement between the U.S. and the Russian Federation confirming a previous understanding allowing for specified access for U.S. poultry, beef and pork into the Russian market: “I would like to commend U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman and Chief Agricultural Negotiator Allen Johnson on thei... Read more »
\Subcommittee Chairman William Jenkins today chaired a hearing of the Subcommittee on Specialty Crops and Foreign Agriculture Programs to review food aid programs. The hearing provided an opportunity for Members to review the needs, capabilities and obstacles facing foreign food aid assistance programs. The Subcommittee heard from three panels of witnesses including representatives from the U.S. D... Read more »
, D.C. - Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture Bob Goodlatte today made the following statement regarding National Hunger Awareness Days and food aid to Africa: "A grassroots effort to focus attention on hunger in the United States designated Tuesday, June 7, 2005 as National Hunger Awareness Day. This laudable effort happened to coincide with British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit wit... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte today chaired a hearing of the Full Committee on Agriculture to review the final National Forest Land Management Planning rule issued by the National Forest Service in December 2004. The 2004 rule attempts to streamline the forest land management planning process which has become a lengthy and expensive process. “Clearly, the new planning rule takes some important steps to r... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte today announced his support for the Central America—Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) at a press conference with Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman. On August 5, 2004 the six CAFTA-DR countries signed the agreement; however, the Congress must pass legislation authorizing the agreement before it can go into effect.... Read more »
Chairman Goodlatte praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision upholding the Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985 (also known as the Beef Checkoff Program) and rejecting a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that it was unconstitutional. Goodlatte and other legislators filed a friends of the court brief with the Supreme Court in 2004 taking issue with the U.S. appeals court ruling that the Beef Chec... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte today issued the statement below following meetings this week with representatives of the farm industry to discuss the budget reconciliation process: “The release of the Budget Resolution Conference Report, and the requirement that agriculture reduce spending by $173 million for FY 2006 and $3 billion through FY 2010, has generated considerable speculation with regard to how... Read more »
