Opening Statements

Remarks as prepared for delivery:

Good morning everyone. Mr. Chairman, congratulations on your second chairmanship of the all-powerful House Agriculture Committee. It is a high privilege and honor to chair this panel just once — so twice is truly a special honor.

As you may have noticed, this side of the dais has also changed quite a bit from last fall. A lot of very fine individuals who served on this committee are not with us today, and I will certainly miss them. 

I particularly want to point out that this will be the first meeting in about a quarter century that Chairmen Bob Goodlatte and Frank Lucas will not be here. Of course, Chairman Goodlatte has retired from Congress while Chairman Lucas has taken over as Ranking Member of the Science Committee. The good news is that farmers and ranchers can take comfort in knowing that Chairman Lucas has pledged to return to the Agriculture Committee in time for the next farm bill. 

I certainly want to welcome all of our returning members and also specially recognize our three new members to the panel on this side of the dais. 

Dusty Johnson, the newly minted representative from the great state of South Dakota, served as a public utilities commissioner and the chief of staff for the governor before joining Congress. Dusty said in his campaign ad that he weighs 140 pounds soaking wet and isn’t made for weight lifting, football, or rodeoing — but he is made for public service. And, having gotten to know Dusty over the past month, I know he will make a very fine representative for the people of South Dakota. In fact, we have such confidence in Dusty that he will serve as the Ranking Member on the Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations Subcommittee. 

Jim Hagedorn, the new Representative from Minnesota’s First District, grew up on a farm outside of Truman, Minnesota. In fact, Jim’s dad also served in the House of Representatives representing southern Minnesota — and he served on this very committee. We are very fortunate to have you with us Jim. I know you will do great work for your farmers and all of the good people in southern Minnesota. 

And, finally, I am honored to introduce Representative Jim Baird of Indiana. Jim’s entire life has been about service. He served in the Indiana legislature before this. But, more importantly, Jim served in the U.S. armed services including in Vietnam, and he was awarded the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. Duty, honor, and courage define this man. Jim, thank you for your service to our country. I look forward to working with you on the committee.

With regard to the business of this committee, I’m proud that we were able to complete the 2018 farm bill late last year. There are certainly other legislative items requiring our attention, but the farm bill was the big lift, and we got that done for five years. Now, we need to protect the promises made under the farm bill because our farmers and ranchers are counting on it.  

Beyond this, we need to get export markets opened by passing the new USMCA trade agreement while also continuing to encourage a successful resolution on trade with China so our two countries are playing by the same rules and competing on a level playing field. 

And, Mr. Chairman, we must encourage the administration to continue the rollback of wasteful and costly regulations, like WOTUS and climate change rules, that threaten to choke economic growth and kill American jobs. Our farmers and ranchers are struggling right now. This is their sixth year of economic recession. We need to do all we can to help bring up the prices they receive at the farm gate, hold down their costs, and, yes, pray for good weather and strong yields.

With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.