Remarks as prepared for delivery: Thank you to Chairman Ryan and his Committee for hosting the first joint hearing between our two committees as we explore how our welfare system can discourage work. It’s surprising that our Committees have not engaged formally before given the overlap in our recipient populations. According to the most recent SNAP characteristics report: • 20 percent of SNAP reci... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Thank you to Chairman Ryan and Subcommittee Chairman Boustany for hosting this historic joint hearing between our two committees as we better explore how our welfare system can discourage work. As the chair of the Nutrition Subcommittee, we have spent the past five months exploring the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. Our revie... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway issued the following statement in response to new Senate legislation that contradicts the House-passed bill (H.R. 2393) which repeals mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) for beef, pork, and chicken. Introduced by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the Senate legislation leaves in place several of these burdensome m... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee began a full-scale review of U.S. international food aid programs with a hearing focused on the nation’s international efforts to alleviate hunger and malnutrition and to enhance food security. The U.S. government provides international food aid through a variety of programs administered by either the U.S. Agency for International Developme... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: For over six decades, the United States has played a leading role in global efforts to alleviate hunger and malnutrition and to enhance food security through international food aid. Today’s hearing marks the beginning of the Committee’s work to review those efforts. As we begin this process, it is important that we start off with an overview from the top, so I am ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - This week, Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway announced Rep. Trent Kelly (MS-1) will join the committee. Rep. Kelly will serve on the Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee as well as the Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit Subcommittee. “Agriculture is vital to the economy in the State of Mississippi, and I am proud to have the opportunity to represent... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House passed legislation approving trade promotion authority, or TPA. The bill establishes an unprecedented level of consultation and transparency requirements, ensuring that Congress and the American people know the full impact of any trade agreement. It also gives clear instructions for trade negotiators to follow while establishing additional consequences for faili... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee approved H.R. 2647, the Resilient Federal Forests Act, a comprehensive bill aimed at expediting and improving forest management activities in federal forests. The bill builds upon the work of previous Congresses to address disastrous consequences of catastrophic wildfire, insect and disease infestations, and other threats to our nation’s fo... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today the House Agriculture Committee approved H.R. 2620, a bill that amends the United States Cotton Futures Act to allow for the development of certain new cotton futures contracts. Current law requires that 100% of the cotton tendered under a U.S.-listed cotton futures contract be sampled and graded (classed) by the USDA. This restriction has hampered the development of new c... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Thank you, Chairman Conaway for today’s markup. As an original cosponsor, I remain in strong support of the “Resilient Federal Forests Act.” Since the inception of the national forest system in 1905, the fundamental mission of the Forest Service has been to manage our federal forests and grasslands. As a result, the Forest Service has played a critical role in rural America: p... Read more »
