Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee held a hearing to review the state of the U.S. livestock and poultry economies. After the hearing, Subcommittee Ranking Member David Rouzer (NC-7) and Committee Ranking Member K. Michael Conaway (TX-11) made the following remarks:

“The 2018 Farm Bill made historic investments in preventing and responding to animal pest and disease threats. As we work to address these threats, the greatest opportunities for moving forward in the livestock and poultry sectors are tied to approving the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. Today’s hearing only further underscored the importance of the agreement and why it is critical lawmakers come together to approve USMCA as soon as possible,” said Subcommittee Ranking Member Rouzer.

“Today’s hearing highlighted a number of threats facing the livestock and poultry industries. While the 2018 Farm Bill worked to address many of these threats, it’s impossible to talk about the state of the livestock or poultry economies without discussing the $2.2 billion elephant in the room for agriculture - USMCA. As we heard again today, producers are clamoring for the additional certainty, benefits of increased access, and added protections that USMCA promises with two of our most important trading partners. I again urge my colleagues across the aisle to join me in committing to working together to approve USMCA,” said Ranking Member Conaway.