Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. David Rouzer (NC-7), Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture, held a public hearing to examine the federal and state response to avian influenza. Identified as one of the worst animal disease outbreaks the U.S. has ever experienced, the disease infected more than 220 farms in 21 states. As a result, nearly 48 million chicke... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning. I appreciate the attendance of our colleagues and witnesses as the subcommittee begins its formal review of the recent outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza. As we will hear from our witnesses, this was without a doubt one of the worst, if not the worst animal disease outbreaks our country has ever faced. More than 220 farms were infected in ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee continued its review of U.S. international food aid programs by holding a hearing on oversight and accountability of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agencies responsible for administering U.S. international food assistance programs. The Committee heard from both the U.S. G... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Thank you for joining us this morning as the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture continues to build off the work begun here just two weeks ago at the Full Committee level. At that time, we heard from both USDA and USAID officials who are charged with implementing U.S. international food aid programs about some of the things that are working and other... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee, held a public hearing to review the financial health of farm country. With significantly lower commodity prices, net farm income has decreased substantially over the past two years. This impacts not only farmers and ranchers but also farm equ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee, held a public hearing to review the reauthorization of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act. First enacted in 1999, the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act was developed in response to changing markets with an increasing number of animals being sold... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good afternoon. I would like to welcome our witnesses to this discussion regarding reauthorization of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act. First enacted in 1999, the Act was developed in response to changing markets with an increasing number of animals being sold via marketing arrangements under which prices were not publicly disclosed. As these structural changes continued,... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee, held a public hearing to review the reauthorization of the U.S. Grain Standards Act. The U.S. Grain Standards Act, which was first passed in 1916, authorizes the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration to establish official ma... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management held a public hearing to examine implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill was signed into law on February 7, 2014. The legislation both modernized and strengthened the safety net for farmers. By next week, most farmers will have ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee, held a public hearing to examine the implications of potential retaliatory measures against the United States in response to its country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements for beef and pork. In 2002, Congress initially adopted a country-of-origin lab... Read more »