[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 56 (Wednesday, May 10, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S4341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. TALENT (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Bond, and Mr. Lugar):
  S. 2782. A bill to establish the National Institute of Food and 
Agriculture, to provide funding for the support of fundamental 
agricultural research of the highest quality, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, today, Senator Talent and I, along with a 
group of our colleagues, are introducing the National Institute of Food 
and Agriculture Act of 2006. In the 2002 farm bill, a research, 
education and economics task force within the Department of 
Agriculture, USDA, was established to evaluate agricultural research. A 
key recommendation of this task force was to create a National 
Institute for Food and Agriculture, NIFA, within USDA in order to 
support fundamental agricultural research to ensure that American 
agriculture remains competitive now and in the future. This bill does 
exactly that. The NIFA would be a grant-making agency that funds food 
and agricultural research through a competitive, peer-reviewed process. 
These funds would be in addition to, not as a substitute for, current 
research programs at USDA's Agricultural Research Service, ARS, and 
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, CSREES.
  American agriculture must ensure that our Nation continues to produce 
safe and nutritious food for an increasing population. Other challenges 
in the areas of food and agriculture are problems we are facing right 
now: renewable energy, rural development, overweight and obesity, and 
environmental challenges. Investment in fundamental research remains 
our best hope to finding solutions to problems confronting American 
farmers and consumers of food and agriculture products now and in the 
future. Our Nation's investment in research has produced remarkable 
tangible results in the medical field, but food and agricultural 
research lags far behind. USDA's task force noted that the amount of 
funding designated for competitively awarded, peer-reviewed 
agricultural research grants is outpaced 100 to 1 by the National 
Institutes of Health. Our entire Nation is reaping the benefits of past 
agricultural research, but more can be done, and research will become 
much more important in the future as we face increased globalization 
and competition from foreign markets. Increasing our investment in food 
and agriculture research is a necessity for the future of America's 
food and agriculture industry and consumers alike. And that is why I 
support the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Act of 2006. I 
encourage my colleagues to do so too.

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