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 »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Members of the House Committee on Agriculture met today with Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Ambassador Stuart Harbinson, Chief of Staff to the Director General of the WTO to discuss the ongoing trade negotiations of the Doha Development Round. Committee Members met with the Director General a year ago to discuss the ... Read more »
Congressman Jerry Moran, Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, today chaired the second hearing in a series of two hearings to examine the reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Subcommittee heard from three panels of witnesses representing the commodity futures trading industry. The CFTC was established in ... Read more »
Statement by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Congressman Robin Hayes (R-NC) regarding the passage of S.J. Res. 4 by the U.S. Senate today: “We are disappointed that the Senate acted so hastily in disapproving the USDA’s science based minimal-risk rule that would put us on the path of normalizing beef and cattle trade with Canada. Yesterday, a judge in Montana granted a preliminary injunction on ... Read more »
Statement by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Congressman Robin Hayes (R-NC) regarding the passage of S.J. Res. 4 by the U.S. Senate today: “We are disappointed that the Senate acted so hastily in disapproving the USDA’s science based minimal-risk rule that would put us on the path of normalizing beef and cattle trade with Canada. Yesterday, a judge in Montana granted a preliminary injunction on ... Read more »
The House Committee on Agriculture today held a hearing to review the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) rule providing for Canadian beef and cattle imports. After the Canadians discovered a Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) positive cow in Canada in May 2003, the U.S. closed its border to Canadian beef and cattle imports.In December 2004, USDA published the final rule establishing minimal-ri... Read more »
