[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 102 (Thursday, July 9, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010.

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. BOB ETHERIDGE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 8, 2009

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2997) making 
     appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
     Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Chair, I rise tonight in reluctant support of this 
legislation. While H.R. 2997, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food 
and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 
2010 provides critical funding for the United States Department of 
Agriculture, including important initiatives that I helped put in the 
2008 Farm Bill, it falls short for some rural Americans.
  USDA funding is critical to our nation, and H.R. 2997 ensures USDA 
can continue its good work. This bill provides more than $2.8 billion 
for rural development, 4 percent more than in 2009, for investments 
such as rural housing, water projects, community facilities and 
economic development efforts. These rural initiatives not only sustain 
our rural communities, but also create new opportunities for growth and 
development in our nation's small towns. At a time when our rural 
economies are suffering, this funding provides a desperately needed 
hand up, and a way to spur continued growth and maintenance for 
existing infrastructure.
  To protect American agriculture, the safety of our nation's food 
supply, and to spur the continued research that makes our land grant 
universities the pinnacle of the world's agriculture research centers, 
the bill provides nearly $1.2 billion for the Agricultural Research 
Service $1.3 billion for important agricultural research at the 
National Institute for Food and Agriculture, and $881 million to fund 
programs that protect American agriculture against animal and plant 
diseases. As the representative of the district that contains the main 
campus of North Carolina State University, one of our nation's finest 
land grant and agricultural research institutions, I am proud that the 
research funds within the bill will continue to allow these students 
and researchers to do their good work for American agriculture and the 
consumers who eat the healthy food American farmers produce, here at 
home and across the globe.
  Conservation efforts were sadly diminished under the last 
Administration, but this bill provides $980 million for conservation 
programs at USDA, 8 percent above the President's request and 1 percent 
above 2009. Funding provided in H.R. 2997 for the Natural Resources 
Conservation Service will improve service in the field, and deliver 
conservation to protect the environment. The bill rejects $267 million 
in proposed cuts to farm bill conservation priorities, including the 
Wetlands Reserve Program, Farmland Protection Program, and Wildlife 
Habitat Incentives Program. These initiatives ensure that our children 
inherit the legacy of a clean environment and a healthy rural America. 
They deserve no less than what we enjoyed growing up.
  To help the most needy in our society, H.R. 2997 provides more than 
$7.5 billion to provide proper nutrition to mothers and their children, 
supporting healthy food for up to an additional 700,000 women, infants, 
and children. The funds provided in this bill will help bring needed 
WIC assistance to more than ten million people. It also sets aside $125 
million for the upcoming WIC reauthorization, including a number of 
program improvements such as increasing fruit and vegetable vouchers, 
implementing the electronic benefit transfer system, and expanding the 
breast feeding peer counseling program.
  There are many good things in this bill. But while the bill provides 
basic support for our nation's farmers, it leaves out some of the 
farmers most in need and may harm many of our livestock and poultry 
producers.
  Mr. Chair, the people who live in my district are suffering. With 
double digit unemployment in every county in my district, we are 
experiencing some of the worst economic conditions in the nation. My 
farmers are suffering as well. I have poultry growers and livestock 
producers who are on the verge of losing their homes. This bill should 
include Section 32 funding, that I requested, for economic disaster 
assistance for these producers, producers who work hard to raise 
thousands of birds for our family tables but are not eligible for any 
traditional assistance at USDA. This provision would have helped nearly 
a thousand poultry producers in a dozen states who have lost their 
contracts. These folks have nowhere else to turn for a bridge that will 
allow them to keep their farms. When we are giving bailouts to Wall 
Street and the auto industry, we owe it to rural America to lend a hand 
to those who reside on Main Street. But, unfortunately, the committee 
did not include this provision.
  I am also concerned about a provision put into this bill that extends 
a ban on imports of processed poultry meat from China. This is already 
threatening to hurt not only U.S. poultry producers, but also pork and 
beef producers who depend on the Chinese market. While I share 
Chairwoman DeLauro's desire to make sure that our food is safe, 
arbitrary restrictions do not forward our goals. Congress should rely 
on the food safety efforts of USDA and FDA, and insist on continued 
oversight of these agencies. We must work to improve Chinese food 
safety in a manner that protects U.S. consumers, but that is also 
consistent with our international obligations on fair trade. Singling 
out our largest trading partner may lead to retaliation that would 
threaten an already suffering industry. It is my hope that this 
provision will be removed from the bill during conference.
  Mr. Chair, I will vote for H.R. 2997, and I urge my colleagues to do 
the same. But I also urge those in Leadership, and the Chair of this 
committee, to think of North Carolina's poultry farmers, and livestock 
producers across the country, as this bill goes to conference. I hope 
to work together in the future to ensure that future legislation is 
more inclusive of all of our farmers and people in need.

                          ____________________