Good afternoon and thank you Chairman Lucas for holding the first official meeting of the House Agriculture Committee in the 112th Congress. I want to congratulate you on taking over the Chairmanship of the Committee. This is perhaps the least partisan of the Committees, in part because we work very hard to listen to each other and understand each other and I look forward to continuing this relationship.
There are a lot of challenges before us, not least of which will be the current budget situation we’re in. There’s no doubt that we have got to get our spending under control and agriculture programs are frequently mentioned as a source of budget cuts. I’m not against exploring cuts but I won’t let agriculture be singled out. Everything needs to be on the table. We already made significant cuts in the farm bill process itself and then with the SRA process that was done in May. If every other government program, both mandatory and discretionary, were reduced the same percentage, it would reduce the deficit $2.3 trillion over the next ten years.
The farm bill is going to expire next year. This Committee started holding hearings in preparation for the new bill last year but I understand why Chairman Lucas wants to wait until 2012 to begin considering the legislation. We have a lot of new members on the Committee and I hope they will take the next year to learn as much as they can about the programs in the farm bill so we can provide farmers with five more years of certainty in farm policy by passing another strong bill in 2012.
The Agriculture Committee also played a role in addressing some of the problems in the financial derivatives market last year. I think the end result was a very good bill but our work is not done. I believe Chairman Lucas and I are in agreement that vigorous oversight of the CFTC will be necessary to ensure that they are implementing these provisions as intended.
I also share the Chairman’s concerns about the EPA imposing regulations on farmers and ranchers. Personally, I think the EPA just doesn’t get it and without addressing the issue I fear that many of our farmers could be driven out of business.
So again, I’m looking forward to working with the Chairman in this new Congress. Now, I want to welcome our new members. On the Democratic side, we are welcoming seven new members to the Committee.
Chellie Pingree represents the first district of Maine. She has earned her living as an organic farmer and now raises vegetables, and keeps turkeys, pigs, chickens and cows at a farm she has revived on the island of North Haven, Maine, where she lives.
Joe Courtney represents the second district of Connecticut. Dairy is an important industry for his district and he co-founded the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus in 2009.
Peter Welch represents the At-Large district of Vermont. He is also a co-founder of the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus and has been a strong advocate for Vermont’s dairy producers.
Marcia L. Fudge represents the 11th district of Ohio and brings a strong commitment to ending childhood obesity in a generation, eliminating hunger and monitoring the safety of our food supply.
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan represents the At-Large district of Northern Mariana Islands. He has an interest in supporting agriculture and aquaculture as emerging economic activities in the Northern Mariana Islands and is also very focused on the nutritional needs of his constituents, who face higher food costs and limited availability due to the remoteness of the islands. Mr. Sablan could not be with us today.
Terri Sewell represents the seventh district of Alabama. Strengthening land grant institutions, supporting urban and rural economic development and working to improve nutrition programs are some of her interests in the committee.
Jim McGovern represents the third district of Massachusetts. He is the co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus and a vocal advocate for nutrition programs.
For all of you, welcome to the Agriculture Committee.
Source: House Committee on Agriculture
