The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E360-E361 on April 10, 2020.
The Department is primarily focused on food nutrition, with assistance programs making up 80 percent of its budget. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department implements too many regulations and restrictions and impedes the economy.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019
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speech of
HON. K. MICHAEL CONAWAY
of texas
in the house of representatives
Friday, March 27, 2020
Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my support for the CARES Act. It is the legislation that we need today to fight the extraordinary challenges we are facing.
At few points in our nation's history have we been faced with a situation as dire as the one before us today. This threat is unusual and unfamiliar--a virus and the illness it causes--but it is as real as every other great crisis we've faced.
This pandemic is upending the lives of each and every American. Some have died or lost loved ones. More have become ill and hospitalized. Many have lost their jobs or shuttered their businesses. All of us are agonizing over the uncertainty of a threat we do not fully understand and cannot yet defeat.
The public health crisis has put Americans on edge and strained our medical facilities to the breaking point. It has also led to unexpected economic crises for tens of millions of Americans, as businesses are forced to close, paychecks are disappearing, and economic activity is reduced.
The size and scope of this aid package is staggering, but it reflects the devastating costs in lives, jobs, businesses, and economic paralysis that this crisis has brought. It is essential that we continue to act quickly and forcefully, at all levels of government, to prevent the harm and disruption of this crisis from overwhelming our capacity to help one another. The CARES Act provides the foundation for that action. The CARES Act will help Americans meet these intertwined emergencies by providing funds to hospitals and frontline medical providers, expanding and accelerating assistance for Americans that have lost their jobs, and providing a lifeline to businesses trying to stay afloat and pay their employees while their customers are asked to remain at home.
While we see the clear and overwhelming costs that this health crisis is imposing in places like Seattle, New York, and New Orleans, it is imposing heavy costs other parts of America, as well. Particularly in rural communities, where the challenges to providing health care are magnified by a lack of resources, technology, and specialists, and compounded by extended distances and an older population.
Similarly, the economic crisis created by this pandemic is hitting farm country particularly hard, which was already suffering long before this virus emerged. Agricultural producers are particularly sensitive to disruptions in trade, supply chains, transportation, and reliable sources labor, each of which this pandemic is placing under increasing strain.
This legislation includes essential resources which will provide the Secretary of Agriculture with the tools he needs to help our nation's farmers and ranchers survive, and to support our rural communities, hospitals, and businesses who are struggling just like their urban counterparts. I am grateful that we were able to include them, and that we did not ignore the unique challenges of rural America.
As we all know, no legislation is perfect. Each member in this body has opinions on what tools and funding are needed to respond to this crisis which were not included in this package. On some priorities, members have fundamental, deep-seated differences of opinion; on others, we simply ran out of time to find agreement. For my part, I had hoped for more funds to help our agricultural producers and rural communities as they grapple with the crisis as it inevitably moves into less populated communities.
On that issue--how we support rural communities during this crisis--
the differences between Republicans and progressive Democrats are profound. Last week, the Senate's proposal included $50 billion for the Department of Agriculture. These funds were to be available to the Department to address not only the coronavirus crisis, but also to continue the critical farm safety net programs in the farm bill. These programs help farmers weather the day-to-day uncertainties of farming and endure the hostile trade actions of foreign nations, challenges which the current crisis has moved out of the spotlight, but not off the stage.
On Sunday, the Speaker and her allies introduced their proposal, which included a pricey wish list of progressive initiatives, but not one dollar for the Department of Agriculture to respond to this pandemic. One might have called it an oversight, but all this week she has fought for her position and today, we see the results of that effort: just $23.5 billion in funding set aside for agricultural producers, significantly less than what is needed.
The Speaker and her allies claim they fought to put workers first, but their demands did not include those who work in agriculture. In the final analysis, their handiwork shortchanged middle America and has made it more difficult to provide our farmers and ranchers the help that they so desperately need.
But we cannot delay this package any further over our differences. We must move forward with our many areas of agreement, including the support that was agreed to for our agricultural producers. As we develop any additional legislation, I will continue to fight to ensure that sufficient resources are available to the Department to meet all the challenges faced by rural America.
Despite the circumstances we presently find ourselves in as a nation, I have unbounded hope for our future. In my own lifetime, I have seen our nation rise to meet challenges that seemed insurmountable at the time. Looking back further in history, we see burdens that our ancestors bore that seem unfathomable to us today. Overcoming adversity is in our DNA.
Our capacity as Americans to care for one another is immeasurable. All across our country, families, neighbors, churches, businesses, civic clubs, and groups of Americans of all stripes are quietly coming together to figure out what they can do to help. Our farmers and ranchers, and everyone involved in producing, transporting, and selling food, fiber, and fuel, are no exception. These men and women are working overtime because they understand the way they can best serve their fellow Americans is to prevent disruptions to the food and goods that we all need to survive.
But no group of Americans can tackle this crisis alone. While we should all do our part, this legislation will do the things that individuals are unable to do for one another. It will fund research and buy medical equipment, it will safeguard paychecks and families, and it will shelter small businesses and essential industries. Most importantly, it will provide a path out of this crisis.
We are a country of survivors, and I have great confidence in our ability to re-emerge from this crisis stronger than ever before. I believe that the CARES Act will help us do that and I urge my colleagues to support its passage.
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