Opening Statements
Thompson Opening Statement: Member Day
Washington,
December 10, 2025
House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson (PA-15) delivered the following opening statement at today's full committee hearing, “Member Day.”
Remarks as prepared: Good morning, and welcome to the House Committee on Agriculture’s Member Day hearing. I appreciate my colleagues taking some time to share their priorities, perspectives, and feedback. Over the past year, our country has entered a new chapter. With the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, the confirmation of Secretary Brooke Rollins at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Ambassador Jamison Greer as our U.S. Trade Representative, we now have partners across the administration who share our commitment to revitalizing American agriculture, expanding global market access, restoring program integrity, and putting producers and rural communities back at the center of federal policy where they belong. This Committee has a magnificent mandate: strengthen American agriculture, expand opportunity, and safeguard the systems that underpin our food and national security. I’m proud that we have already begun to fulfill this mandate. Earlier this year, Republicans in Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill, the most significant investment in American agriculture in a generation. This legislation strengthens the farm safety net, boosts conservation and ag research, and restores accountability and opportunity to SNAP by rebuilding guardrails that ensure the program works for those who truly need it and for the taxpayers who generously fund it. Our reforms modernized and strengthened work requirements for able-bodied adults without young children, incentivized states to reduce improper payments, and ensured assistance will go to those who genuinely need help. By restoring these guardrails, reinforcing the dignity and value of work, and prioritizing American families and taxpayers, we are putting SNAP back on the path Congress intended, one that protects the vulnerable while encouraging greater opportunity and self-sufficiency. Our work on the farm bill reauthorization did not end with the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill. While extensions of the previous farm bill and recently announced economic assistance provide some certainty to our producers, it is not and should not be in lieu of a comprehensive and thoughtful bipartisan five-year reauthorization. As we look ahead to the new year, we will advance what we are calling “Farm Bill 2.0,” a bipartisan piece of legislation responsive to the needs of our agricultural community. This Committee has a large jurisdiction, and I have always said we can walk and chew gum at the same time, and this year we have done just that. Working with our colleagues on the Financial Services Committee, we passed the bipartisan CLARITY Act, establishing clear, workable market structure for digital assets and finally bringing clarity to the jurisdictions of the CFTC and SEC. |