House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte today introduced voluntary country-of-origin labeling (V-COOL) legislation, H.R. 2068, for the domestic meat industry. Goodlatte introduced the legislation with 33 cosponsors and comes in response to mandatory provisions in the 2002 Farm Bill requiring retailers to inform consumers of the country-of-origin at the final point of sale for covered co... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte today issued the following statement regarding the Senate’s confirmation of Rob Portman’s appointment as U.S. Trade Representative (USTR): “On behalf of the House Committee on Agriculture, I would like to congratulate Rob Portman on his appointment as the U.S. Trade Representative. Rob and I were both members of the 1992 freshman class and I have enjoyed working with him in ... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte today issued the following statement regarding the Senate’s confirmation of Chuck Conner’s appointment as U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary of Agriculture: “On behalf of the House Committee on Agriculture, I would like to congratulate Chuck Conner on his new position as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. Chuck has been a strong advocate for agriculture and... Read more »
Frank D. Lucas, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development and Research, and Jerry Moran, Chairman of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, today co-chaired a joint hearing to review the economic impact of Asian Soybean Rust (ASR) on the American farm sector. ASR, a fungal disease that affects the growth of soybeans, among other plants, was ... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte today chaired a hearing to review the implementation of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act. In 2000, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools Act which created new cooperative partnerships between citizens in forest counties and federal land managers to develop forest health improvement projects on public lands, simultaneously stimulating job devel... Read more »
Recently, John Haugen was named Communications Director and Alise Kowalski was named Press Secretary. Haugen, a Minnesota native, worked previously for the Committee under former Ranking Minority Member Charlie Stenholm. Kowalski is from the Sixth District of Virginia and served as Deputy Press Secretary for the Committee since June 2004. "John has worked in the House of Representatives for the pa... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte today chaired a House Committee on Agriculture hearing to review the final regulations issued by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) concerning the term "payment of cash in advance" and the effect of the redefinition of the payment policy on U.S. agricultural trade with Cuba. The Committee heard from two panels of witnesses including Direc... Read more »
Statement from Chairman Bob Goodlatte regarding a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel decision issued today siding with the U.S. in its case against the European Union regarding geographic food names known as "geographical indications." The panel's decision found that the European Union (EU) regulation discriminates against U.S. products and producers and is therefore contrary to WTO rules and th... Read more »
Congressman Frank Lucas, R-OK, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development, and Research, chaired a hearing today to review the methyl bromide (MeBr) Critical Use Exemption (CUE) process under the Montreal Protocol. The Subcommittee heard testimony from two panels of witnesses including Claudia McMurray, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment, Bureau of Oceans and I... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte released the following statement regarding the revised CBO estimates of the Administration’s budget: “I am alarmed by the revised CBO estimates of the Administration’s budget released recently. These estimates call for cuts of $9.1 billion in programs under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Committee over five years. This is unacceptable. The level of reduction, which is p... Read more »
