Today the House Committee on Agriculture held its first full Committee organizational meeting of the 109th Congress. The Committee approved Subcommittee assignments, the Committee Rules and Committee Oversight Plan, and the Budget Views and Estimates Letter offering budget recommendations for the programs and agencies under the Committee’s jurisdiction. Agriculture Committee members Subcommittee a... Read more »
Bob Goodlatte today spoke out against the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) budget proposal that would transfer $300 million of the agency’s $1.2 billion food aid funding for 2006. The transferred funds would be used to purchase foreign food in areas experiencing emergency food situations. Andrew Natsios, administration for USAID, indicated that the new proposal has encountered r... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte co-sponsored a bill to reauthorize PL 106-393, The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2000, introduced Wednesday evening. In 2000, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act that focused on creating new cooperative partnerships between citizens in forest counties and federal land managers to develop forest health i... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Chairman Bob Goodlatte welcomed six new majority and five new minority Members to the House Agriculture Committee. New majority members include Charles W. Boustany, Jr., LA, John J.H. "Joe" Schwarz, MI, John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr., NY, Virginia Foxx, NC, K. Michael Conaway, TX, and Jeff Fortenberry, NE. New minority members include Henry Cuellar, TX, Charlie Melancon, LA, Jim Cost... Read more »
The following is a statement released by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte regarding the Forest Service rules announced today: “I am pleased that the Administration has taken steps to simplify and streamline the National Forest planning process, and proposed changes to the application of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on our public forests. The rules announced today ... Read more »
Today the House passed S. 2856 sponsored by Senator Cochran and the Agriculture Committee, to limit the transfer of certain Commodity Credit Corporation funds between conservation programs for technical assistance. The bill garnered bipartisan support and was passed by voice vote. Conservation programs were a significant part of the 2002 Farm Bill. Congress increased the budget for conservation pr... Read more »
, D.C. Chairman Bob Goodlatte made the following statement regarding the nomination of Mike Johanns to the President's Cabinet: "On behalf of the House Agriculture Committee, I would like to congratulate Governor Johanns on his nomination to the position of Secretary of Agriculture and look forward to working with him on issues facing America 's farmers, ranchers and foresters. Growing up on a dai... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte made the following statement regarding the departure of Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman from the Cabinet: "On behalf of the Committee, I want to offer our thanks and best wishes to Secretary Veneman. She has ably served the farmers and ranchers of America as the Secretary of Agriculture for four years. During that period many changes have taken place for U.S. agricultur... Read more »
Late Wednesday evening, the House passed a $10.9 billion FY04 supplemental bill for Florida that included an amendment, co-sponsored by Chairman Bob Goodlatte, stipulating $3 billion in national agriculture disaster assistance. H.R. 5226, introduced by Congressman Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), provides disaster assistance to producers affected by weather related disasters across the country. The bil... Read more »
Chairman Bob Goodlatte co-sponsored a bill, H.R. 5226, introduced today by Congressman Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) that would provide disaster assistance to producers affected by weather related disasters across the country. The bill's funding contains offsets that impose a cap on spending for the Conservation Security Program (CSP). The bill also stipulates that producers could not receive disaste... Read more »
