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.
“National Beef Month (Executive Session)” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the in the Senate section section on pages S2349-S2350 on May 5.
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:
National Beef Month
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, it is my pleasure to celebrate with my colleagues the month of May as National Beef Month, and I come to the floor not just to say that we ought to eat more beef and help the farmers and cattlemen of this country.
Before I get to something else, though, Iowa has the seventh largest cattle inventory in the United States and ranks fourth in the country for cattle and calves on feed. While I usually focus on the need for a fair and transparent market for cattle producers, today I want to draw attention to the job that cattle producers across the country have feeding America and the world.
Over the last 30 years, the U.S. population has increased by 80 million people. In that same period, the world's population has grown by more than 3 billion people. In the face of a growing population, farmers across America have been faced with a challenging question: How do we meet the growing demands for food while also lowering our environmental footprint?
American farmers and ranchers have risen to that occasion; in other words, not just producing more food but helping the environment at the same time. Farmers in all segments have expanded production to fulfill increasing demand while protecting our environment. The United States is currently producing 80 percent more pork, 48 percent more milk, and 18 percent more beef than just 30 years ago.
Now, you would think, with all that increase in production, you would have more of an environmental problem, but despite the increases in production, per unit greenhouse gas emissions from pork production have decreased by 20 percent and 8 percent for beef production.
Nonetheless, environmentalists still seem to place unwarranted blame on farmers for contributing to our changing and warming climate. The recent narrative that U.S. agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions is simply not true. Now get that--it is simply not true. According to the EPA, only 11 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. The leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions contribute nearly twice as many emissions as the agriculture industry does. Transportation contributes 27 percent, electricity contributes 25 percent, general industry is contributing 24 percent. So I am here to set the record straight. For the last 30 years, American farmers have been reducing greenhouse gas emissions with each meal served by embracing efficiency and the adoption of new technologies.
Agriculture needs to have a seat at the table for these conversations because farmers are the first conservationists and can help offset emissions from other sectors of the American economy. Whether it is creating carbon sinks on farmland to produce biofuels or turning farm waste into energy, farmers have taken a very active role in reducing the environmental impact of agriculture.
Research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that even if the entire world was vegan, it would lower global emissions by less than one-half of 1 percent, while losing access to high-quality protein very much needed in the diets of human beings.
However, the facts that I have mentioned do not matter to radical environmental groups or the mainstream media. Articles on food sustainability often focus on how eating insects and bugs can help save the planet. A simple search on the internet reveals some unsettling articles in our publications. A headline from Time magazine reads like this: ``How Humans Eating Insects Could Help Save the Planet.''
Then from the publication The Atlantic: ``To Save the World, Eat Bugs.''
And from the New York Times--can you imagine, the New York Times:
``Why Aren't We Eating More Insects?''
All of these stories have a very common thread--to solve world hunger and to protect the environment, the American people and the world need to eat bugs and insects. But as I have already laid out, you can just eat more beef and feel good about the environmental impact.
Now, as for me, I will be doing my part in May to honor National Beef Month. I will be eating juicy hamburgers or eating steak, if the price isn't too outrageous--and it is right now. I will be supporting cattlemen from Iowa who produce the highest quality beef in the world. Farmers know firsthand the importance of a clean and healthy environment. It is simply unfair to place the blame of a changing climate on the backs of farmers.
As a nation, we must stand with the farmers across the country and work with them to promote a clean environment. I will continue working at the policymaking table to ensure our cattle producers can continue raising high-quality beef for generations to come and that families can enjoy it at their kitchen tables at prices they can afford.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King). The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
