Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research, and Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture held a joint hearing to highlight the importance of agricultural policies to protecting our national security. Members heard from representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Servic... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to review the various options available to states when implementing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Members heard from a panel of witnesses who shared the current options available to states when implementing the program and how those options allow states to respond to the needs of their respective popul... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (PA-5), Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry, held a hearing to highlight the unique and innovative conservation practices that farmers and ranchers are voluntarily utilizing to conserve and protect natural resources. Members heard from two panels of witnesses including Chief of the Natural Resources Conserva... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway issued the following statement after the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee (EEMAC), an advisory committee of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), released a report recommending the regulator abandon its plans to limit the number of futures contracts a trader can hold on certain commoditi... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Austin Scott (GA-8), Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit, held a hearing to review the G20 swap data reporting goals. Members heard from a panel of witnesses who shared the progress being made toward meeting the reporting and transparency goals set forth by the Group of Twenty (G20) enacted in the Dodd-Frank Wall ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to review the state of the rural economy. According to the latest forecast from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), net farm income in the United States is expected to fall by 56 percent from 2013 to 2016, the largest three-year percentage decline in net farm income since the Great... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. David Rouzer (NC-7), Chairman of the House Agriculture Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee, held a hearing to examine the preparedness of the United States in the event of the introduction of foot and mouth disease (FMD) into the country. Members heard from a panel of witnesses who shared what steps have been taken and what still needs to be done to achiev... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to consider the impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) actions on the rural economy. Members questioned EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, on the agency’s overreaching, burdensome regulations and policies such as the “waters of the United States” rule, proposed changes to the ozone standard and pesticide uses, a... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to review the 2016 agenda for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Members raised many concerns with CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad, including the importance of strong futures and derivatives markets for end-users, reforms to Dodd-Frank, the Reg AT rule and its potential impact on smaller market participants, and th... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) sent a written reply to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s February 3 letter in which the Secretary denied the request of 100 members of Congress who sent a bicameral, bipartisan letter urging the Secretary to take urgent action to stave off a farm financial crisis in the cotton belt. The members of Congre... Read more »
