Following today's release of the National Research Council's (NRC) risk assessments report on pesticides, two key Members of Congress called on four federal agencies to start over and conduct a more thorough study that more directly answers serious questions relating to Endangered Species Act biological opinions (BiOp) and crop protection products. Read more »
Rep. Austin Scott, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology and Foreign Agriculture, held a public hearing to examine specialty crop priorities for the 2013 Farm Bill. Read more »
Today, the House Agriculture Committee approved seven legislative proposals amending Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The bills are the culmination of the committee's oversight efforts of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as it writes rules for Dodd-Frank. Read more »
The House Agriculture Committee held a public hearing to review seven legislative proposals amending Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The proposals are the culmination of the committee's oversight efforts of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as it writes rules for Dodd-Frank. Read more »
Rep. Glenn 'GT' Thompson, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry, held a public hearing to examine how the U.S. Forest Service is managing the National Forest System (NFS) and how this management affects rural communities. The NFS spans 193 million acres in 712 counties across 41 states. Read more »
The House Agriculture Committee held a public hearing to review the state of the rural economy with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary (USDA) Tom Vilsack. Read more »
Today, a group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced H.R. 935, The Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2013. This bill would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA) to clarify Congressional intent and eliminate the requirement of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the use of pesticides already approved for use under FIFRA. Read more »
Chairman Frank Lucas released the following statement after the U.S. Senate failed to pass a replacement bill for the sequester that is slated to take effect March 1. Read more »