[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 144 (Wednesday, October 7, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H11061-H11077]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2997, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD 
 AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 799, I call up 
the conference report on 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, and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  (For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of 
September 30, 2009, at page H10358.)
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 799, the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) and the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Kingston) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Connecticut.


                             General Leave

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include tabular and extraneous material on the conference report to 
accompany H.R. 2997.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I am delighted to present the 2010 Agriculture-Food and Drug 
Administration appropriations conference report. I want to note for my 
colleagues that this is the earliest that an Agriculture appropriations 
conference report has come to the House floor since 1999.
  This report represents a culmination of many months of hard work in 
both Houses of Congress. I want to offer my thanks to the ranking 
member, Congressman Jack Kingston, for his collaboration and input over 
these months, and I also want to say ``thank you'' to the minority and 
majority staff for all of their tireless work in this effort, a ``thank 
you'' to our ranking member, Mr. Lewis, and a special ``thank you'' to 
Chairman Obey for his counsel on this effort.
  We have been busy all year. The subcommittee has held seven hearings 
so far, including two hearings with the Secretary of Agriculture, a 
hearing with the Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug 
Administration and another with the Inspector General of the Department 
of Health and Human Services. We had a hearing on domestic nutrition 
programs, a hearing on the equivalency process for imported meat and 
poultry. We also had a hearing in which members discussed their 
priorities.
  The fiscal year 2010 conference report before us, the culmination of 
the process, focuses on several key areas such as: supporting 
agricultural research, investing in rural communities, protecting 
public health, bolstering food nutrition programs and food aid, and 
conserving our natural resources. The final bill invests in these 
priorities and the agencies that can help us to meet them while making 
specific and sensible budget cuts where feasible.
  The 2010 Agriculture-FDA appropriations conference report provides 
for $23.3 billion in funding, a 13 percent increase over 2009 levels, 
with major and responsible investments across the board.
  In terms of protecting public health, the bill provides a substantial 
increase for the Food and Drug Administration--$306 million--to conduct 
more inspections of domestic and foreign food and medical products.
  In addition, the bill fully funds the administration's request for 
the Food Safety and Inspection Service at the United States Department 
of Agriculture, providing over $1 billion for FSIS for the first time 
in history.
  The appropriate funding of FDA and FSIS is not only a matter of 
public health and consumer safety, it is a matter of national and 
economic security. Not all of the dangers that threaten the health and 
safety of American families can be found in airports, border 
checkpoints or harbor containers.

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Sometimes they lurk in our refrigerators and on our kitchen tables. We 
cannot afford to neglect our food safety system any longer, and I am 
pleased that we fund the FDA and the FSIS adequately in this bill.
  With regards to nutrition, the bill provides $7.25 billion for WIC, 
the women, infants and children program, to serve our Nation's 
vulnerable populations and help those hit hardest by the economic 
crisis.
  Our fundamental responsibility as legislators and as leaders, to say 
nothing of basic morality and fairness, demands that we do everything 
that we can to help Americans suffering right now from poverty and 
malnutrition. Each dollar we spend on nutrition here in this bill means 
food on the table for hungry families who are struggling.
  The bill also includes $171 million for the Commodity Supplemental 
Food Program, or CSFP, and expands assistance to seven new States: 
Arkansas, Oklahoma, Delaware, Utah, New Jersey, Georgia and Maine.

  In addition, conferees agreed to extend the school lunch program for 
1 year at the request of the Education and Labor Committee to ensure 
that the school lunch program remains operational and that 
schoolchildren will not go hungry.
  The bill makes significant investments in agricultural research: $1.2 
billion for the Agricultural Research Service, over $1.3 billion for 
the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, and among the key 
programs funded is $262.5 million for the Agriculture and Food Research 
Initiative, a competitive research program.
  In addition, the report seeks to create new opportunities for growth 
in the Nation's small-town economies with rural development and 
conservation. The agreement provides $12 billion for the section 502 
Guaranteed Single-Family Housing Loans and $164 million for the Rural 
Energy for America Program, just two of the important programs funded 
here to encourage rural development.
  The bill addresses concerns raised on a bipartisan basis about the 
need to modernize the Farm Service Agency's information technology 
networks and databases in order to provide more effective and secure 
service for the agency's customers. It fully funds the request of $67.3 
million for this work.
  The conference report increases funding for key safety nets for our 
farmers, $257 million more in farm ownership loans and $676 million 
more in farm operating loans than the President's request.
  This agreement includes $350 million for dairy assistance, $290 
million to the Secretary of Agriculture to supplement producers' income 
and $60 million for purchasing surplus cheese and other dairy products 
to distribute to food banks.
  The conference agreement also works to conserve America's natural 
resources and thus sustain our national prosperity. It includes 
approximately $1 billion for the Natural Resources Conservation Service 
to improve service in the field, conserve and protect the environment 
and upgrade aging dams at risk of catastrophic failure. It restores 
funding eliminated in the budget for the Resource Conservation and 
Development program and maintains the House position of keeping it in a 
separate account.
  It funds the Commodity Futures Trading Commission above the 
President's request to better secure the markets from improper 
speculation. And it continues to protect our Nation's families and 
farmers from the dangers posed by unsafe processed poultry imports from 
overseas. Some of you may be familiar with the long debate we've had 
over processed poultry from China. From the very beginning, I have 
insisted that the question of processed Chinese poultry imports be 
taken as a public health issue that must not be entangled in trade 
discussions. This conference report language provides meaningful 
assurances that the public health will be protected and that adequate 
preventive measures will be taken to ensure poultry products from China 
are safe.
  The final conference language firmly establishes that Chinese poultry 
imports must live up to American sanitary conditions before being 
shipped to the United States. This includes requiring new onsite 
audits, new onsite inspections and an increased level of port-of-entry 
reinspections. The language also requires USDA to report frequently to 
the Congress on the implementation of any rule authorizing China to 
export poultry products to the U.S. This will allow the Congress to 
monitor USDA's work in this area on a frequent basis.
  In short, the new language ensures the USDA will perform the 
necessary inspection and monitoring functions to minimize possible food 
safety threats from Chinese processed poultry imports. I look forward 
to working with the Secretary as this process moves forward.
  Finally, for all the important investments in this bill, we have also 
made responsible cuts where warranted. This report includes $194 
million in cuts below 2009, more than $1 billion in cuts below the 2010 
budget request, and $346 million in cuts below the 2010 House-passed 
bill.
  Taken as a whole, I believe we have crafted responsible agriculture 
legislation that alleviates short-term suffering, encourages long-term 
growth, invests in our future and reflects our priorities as a Nation.
  In closing, let me take a moment to thank the staff who have worked 
diligently to help to put this bill together. Subcommittee majority 
staff--Martha Foley, our clerk, Leslie Barrack, Matthew Smith, Jason 
Weller, Cliff Isenberg and Kerstin Millius have worked closely with 
David Gibbons on the minority staff. In addition, Brian Ronholm and 
Letty Mederos on my staff, and Merritt Myers and Meg Gilley from Mr. 
Kingston's staff have been of tremendous help to this subcommittee.
  I urge you to support this bill.

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  I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1700

  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  I want to tell a story about Kika de la Garza who at one time was 
chairman of the Ag Committee. Chairman de la Garza came down to Georgia 
and visited the Kings Bay nuclear submarine plant. At that time, as it 
still is, our nuclear submarine plant was a marvel of technology and 
was really a floating and submerged fortress that was one of the most 
powerful weapons on the globe today.
  He asked the captain, Tell me about this nuclear generator. Well, the 
generator goes on and on, and of course nuclear is a very powerful 
source of fuel. He said, Well, what would make you turn the submarine 
around? If the nuclear generation can make this submarine go all over 
the globe without stopping, without ever having to stop to refuel, what 
makes you go back to port? And the captain of the nuclear submarine 
looked at the chairman of the Agriculture Committee with some amazement 
and amusement and said, Well, Mr. Chairman, we turn around when we run 
out of food. That's a very profound statement. It's something that as 
we debate this bill, I think we should be aware of.
  Our agricultural policies can be a little peculiar, can be a little 
bit difficult to follow, and can be open to a lot of criticism, but our 
food policy works. We have a large food supply, an abundant food supply 
at very low prices. Indeed, when you go into a grocery store, you 
complain if you can't get fruit 12 months a year or if the milk isn't 
at a good price or whatever it is. We have a good food policy in 
America and, as a result, we spend more time talking about obesity than 
we do hunger. So I think all Members should be very appreciative of the 
Ag appropriations conference report. We all support it in some fashion, 
sometimes not necessarily casting a vote ``yes,'' but the vote, 
nonetheless, isn't indicative of how we feel about the importance of 
agriculture.
  I have some concerns about this bill. We have worked very closely as 
a subcommittee. We've had a lot of hearings. The chairwoman is a very 
vigorous, energized member and has a lot of passion on lots of 
different issues. We have a lot of great agreements and a lot of 
disagreements on some things that she feels passionately about and some 
things I feel passionately about. As she has mentioned, we both have 
very strong staffs on the majority and on the minority side. We're very 
appreciative of that, and I think we have got a good ag family. My 
concerns about this bill though, Mr. Speaker, focus on the spending 
levels.
  This bill was higher than last year when it left the House, and now 
it's again higher, now that it's come back to the House from the 
Senate. The bill is nearly 14 percent higher than it was last year. The 
discretionary spending level is $23.3 billion, and it's about $2.8 
billion over last year's level. The mandatory spending is 11 percent 
higher than 2009. Combined, the mandatory and the discretionary 
spending levels are about 12 percent higher than last year. I'm 
concerned about that because, you know, food prices haven't gone up 
that much.
  Think about Social Security. Our seniors will not be receiving a COLA 
this year because, among other things, Social Security is based on 
inflation, which has a reflection of food. So they are scheduled not to 
receive a COLA, and yet people on food stamps are going to get a huge 
increase. I find that bothersome. If we look at some of the individual 
accounts, I could tick them off. But I would just say, if you look at 
some things, why is the spending up so high?
  Well, take broadband. Broadband has about $4 million in it this year, 
yet in the stimulus package which was passed--the stimulus package 
which was financed not on tax dollars but on borrowed dollars and 
printed dollars. It's a package that our children's children will be 
paying for. In that package, the Rural Utility Service received $2.5 
billion, not to mention another $2.5 billion--actually, about $3 
billion--that was in another account that the Department of Commerce 
will be funding. None of that has been spent yet. So we've got $6 
billion to $7 billion in broadband that came out of the stimulus bill 
that has not been used, yet this bill gives them another $4.5 billion. 
That defies common sense.
  Food stamps, this bill has $4.3 billion more than 2009. Half of the 
mandatory spending is in food stamps, $58.3 billion. But in the 
stimulus bill, food stamps received a $19 billion slug of money. It 
wasn't because of an increase in food prices. It was allegedly because 
of new enrollment or anticipated new enrollment. But this bill still 
gives food stamps an increase. It's ironic, because one of the things 
this bill also does in reaction to falling milk prices is it gives the 
dairy farmers more money. So we're giving people who get food stamps an 
increase.
  This bill does not fund Social Security, but just to think about this 
in a sequence, Social Security recipients do not get an increase; food 
stamp recipients do get an increase because of a rise in food costs and 
dairy farmers get money because of falling dairy prices. That's not 
consistent. I think we could do better than that.
  Food for Peace gets $1.69 billion. That's an increase of $462 million 
on top of what they just got in the stimulus bill of $700 million. I 
don't think that is justified at this point in time. So I have some 
real concerns about our spending. Keep in mind that the Obama 
administration will have the historical record of the highest deficit 
in the history of the United States Congress, three times as high as 
the highest deficit in the history of the United States. I want to 
repeat that. The Obama-Pelosi deficit will be $1.5 trillion this year. 
That's three times as high as the highest deficit in the history of the 
United States of America.
  Now, we had an opportunity to save some money. We had an opportunity 
to save $150 million, but instead, what we did in the conference report 
was air-drop five new pilot programs: a summer food program for $85 
million; equipment assistance program, $25 million; WIC breast-feeding 
outreach at about $5 million; nutrition outreach for day care, $8 
million; and direct certification expansion of $25 million. These 
programs may have some merit. Perhaps we can easily get these programs 
passed by Members of the House and Members of the Senate, but they did 
not come through the authorizing committee. They did not come through 
the Ag Committee. They were not debated. There were not hearings on it. 
They were air-dropped in this committee, and I'm not convinced that the 
administration formally asked for them.
  There was a lot of discussion about these so-called pilot programs. 
But why not give the money back to the taxpayers? Why not say, Okay, we 
have got $150 million. Let's not go out and create new programs because 
we know what happens to new programs. Ronald Reagan said it best. He 
said, If you don't believe in eternal life, try killing a Federal 
program. It's impossible. You find out how many people have a brother-
in-law who works for the particular agency anytime you try to kill any 
program whatsoever.
  So I'm very concerned about the spending of the Obama-Pelosi team, 
and it has less to do with the Ag appropriations bill but much more to 
do with the direction of Congress. So my worry about this bill 
was really tied into a bigger picture of spending.

  As I said, I think we've done a good job this year. We've worked hard 
on a lot of things. Many of these accounts are things that I would 
fight for and I would certainly support 100 percent of what we're doing 
with them. But I am concerned about the big picture, because when I 
talk about that big Pelosi-Obama deficit of $1.5 trillion, that doesn't 
even talk about the $1.29 trillion health care bill that we will be 
facing soon, which I would say that even if you think a public option 
is great, if you think that the government who brought us Cash for 
Clunkers can run health care, you've still got to step back and say, 
But can you afford it?
  So as we look at these appropriations bills, I think more and more 
people in America are saying, You know what? You Republicans spent too 
much money, but doggone it if it's not on supercharge right now. You've 
got to do something about it.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I'll reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, just to set the record straight on one or 
two

[[Page H11073]]

items, as the gentleman from Georgia knows, the difference between a 
little over 11 percent and a little over 13 percent comes from the $350 
million allocation for U.S. dairy farmers. Now, I don't know if the 
gentleman has dairy farmers in his district, but North, South, East and 
West, the dairy industry is collapsing.
  Now, it may be that you and your side of the aisle would like to see 
the dairy industry collapse. We pay for it. It's within the allocation, 
in addition to which we thought it was the right thing to do in order 
to deal with small farmers, people who are on their knees with regard 
to the dairy industry, and essentially because of what happened in 
China. If the truth be known, it is that given the tainted product in 
China, we were exporting--we were doing a voluminous export business to 
China. Because the product was tainted, the Chinese were not buying 
their product because it killed their kids. So they are not buying 
milk, and our dairy farmers are suffering as a result of that.
  Now, I happen to believe it is an appropriate responsibility for our 
government to look at what was happening to the U.S. dairy farmers and 
to provide them with assistance, and the gentleman knows what that is.
  In addition to this, one additional point. We keep hearing about air-
dropping. You know, it sounds good, and maybe the view is that if you 
continue to repeat it often enough, it will somehow in some way catch 
on. There was no such thing as air-dropping anything into this bill. As 
a matter of fact, as far as I know, Education and Labor is an 
authorizing committee. This went through the authorizing committee, and 
essentially, as I said in my opening remarks, conferees--House, Senate, 
Democrat, Republican--agreed to extend for 1 year the child nutrition 
program because it isn't ready to move to reauthorization yet. And what 
would that cut off if we did not, if we did not extend it under this 
bill? It would mean the school breakfast program, the school lunch 
program.
  I know several years ago folks on the other side of the aisle thought 
it was a good idea to end the school lunch program. I think probably on 
a bipartisan basis these days no one believes that we should end these 
nutrition programs. So nothing was air-dropped. It was vetted by the 
committee, supported by Chairs and ranking members, both sides of the 
aisle, House and Senate, and essentially what we did, at no cost within 
this allocation, was to extend this program for a year.
  With that, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Hinojosa).
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Thank you, Madam Chair, for yielding time to me.
  Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Congressional Rural Housing Caucus, I 
rise in strong support of the Agriculture appropriations conference 
report for fiscal year 2010. It goes a long way to improving the 
affordability, availability, and quality of housing in rural America.
  On April 2, 2009, several of my colleagues and I sent a letter to 
Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro and to Ranking Member Jack Kingston from 
Georgia encouraging them to provide significant funding for several 
rural housing programs. I am pleased with the amount of funding each of 
these have received and look forward to providing additional funding to 
some of those that were kept at the fiscal year 2009 appropriations 
level.
  Mr. Speaker, rural America needs our help. Our rural constituents, 
their families and their communities need our support. This conference 
report will improve the quality of life in rural America, an area of 
the country that was neglected for quite some time.
  I want to thank Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro and Ranking Member Jack 
Kingston of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture for finding 
and for providing the ways and means to improve the affordability, 
availability and quality of housing in rural America. I also want to 
thank Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Lewis for bringing this 
conference report to the floor. I applaud you for your efforts and 
thank you for this conference report. I look forward to continuing to 
work with all of you to increase funding in future fiscal years for 
programs that help rural America.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this conference report that will 
bring much-needed help to our neighbors in rural America.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to make the point that 
an earmark that has not been vetted by the subcommittee, not been voted 
on by the full committee and appears in a conference report is an air-
dropped earmark. In this case, the Education and Labor Committee 
debated these, but they never voted on it. And if they did vote on it, 
we could have had the vote on the House floor on suspension.

                              {time}  1715

  Maybe we could say it's an unauthorized earmark, but it did not come 
through the House, did not come through the Senate. It appeared in 
conference committee. And as my friend knows, I have been very 
steadfast and maybe the only Republican to constantly compliment the 
majority on a very good job of reducing the number of earmarks. In 
fact, I have said that at the subcommittee level, at the full committee 
level, and at the conference committee level. So credit where credit is 
due. But I really think on this one these things have been air dropped 
because they did not come through our committee and they did not come 
through the Senate. Maybe there's a better word than ``air dropped,'' 
but they were not voted on by the committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I am happy to yield 3 minutes to a member of the 
committee and former member of the committee, the gentlewoman from Ohio 
(Ms. Kaptur).
  Ms. KAPTUR. I thank Chairwoman DeLauro for her excellent work on this 
bill and the open and bipartisan process that yielded it, and the 
ranking member, Mr. Kingston of Georgia, for his great work always.
  I rise in support of this measure because it truly undergirds the 
four pillars of U.S. agriculture: food, forestry, fiber, and, the most 
recent, fuel to help America become energy independent.
  The American people know that in the area of nutrition truly the 
funding in this bill, especially for those who are out of work and 
their families, is extraordinarily important. The Commodity 
Supplemental Food Program will be expanded to seven States, and we 
really have no choice in this and the other programs in the bill to try 
to help the American people weather this really terrible economy. The 
Special Nutritional Assistance Program and the Women, Infants and 
Children food program are essentials. They're not frills. They're not 
unnecessary.
  I am particularly pleased that through the Department of Agriculture, 
and through this measure and the leadership of the chairwoman, that 
community gardening and hunger-free communities are highlighted so that 
people become involved in the production of their own food to try to 
alleviate some of the growing want across the country. These are really 
very important and they really work.
  In the area of rural development, we know that energy independence 
has to be our future, and agriculture has a rare opportunity to become 
a part of the green revolution. Really this initiative started with 
Congress. It really didn't start with USDA. Some of the folks over 
there have seen the light, and we know that the farmers of our country 
have to help our Nation transition in this new millennium to an energy-
independent future.
  In terms of sustainable agriculture, I again want to compliment the 
chairwoman for the growing efforts in the Urban and Sustainable 
Agriculture arena to help a whole new generation of American farmers 
reinvent American agriculture. If you look at our imports, they've 
increased from $43 billion in food in 1997 to over $85 billion today. 
They've doubled. In our Nation we can produce our own food. What are we 
doing? The Agricultural Research Service has ways and means to help us 
invest and invent new growing platforms in this country to recapture 
these markets 12 months out of the year. So sustainable farming is 
given a real boost in this bill.
  And I want to praise Chairwoman DeLauro again for her steadfast 
leadership on this and so many other areas, including food safety, to 
produce a fair and honest bill that maintains a leadership role for 
American agriculture and protects the health and safety of our citizens 
while investing in very important conservation and development

[[Page H11074]]

tools for rural America and for a sustainable ecosystem. I thank the 
gentlewoman for yielding me time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I am delighted to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Farr).
  Mr. FARR. I thank the chairwoman for yielding time to me.
  I rise in strong support of the Agriculture appropriations conference 
report. I'm really proud that I think I'm the only member of the 
committee who sits in the Western United States, where an awful lot of 
our agriculture in this country comes from. And one of the things I've 
learned about being on this committee, in the regular authorization 
committee, is that there is probably no other subject matter that 
touches every part of the United States as much as the Department of 
Agriculture. One of the oldest departments in government, essentially 
touching all the cultures and all of the qualities of rural America.
  And in a very urbanized country right now, it's important that we 
think about rural America because that's the part of America that feeds 
us and in many cases feeds much of the world. The food and fiber 
produced in this country is the lifeblood of our Nation. This bill 
continues the focus on the needs of all Americans, both rural and 
urban.
  Just a few of the things I am very keen on is that I don't think we 
can stay ahead of the rest of the world in any field unless we commit 
our best brains and talent to it. The best resources of America are 
intellectual resources. So you apply those intellectual resources to 
research, staying ahead of the curve. I am fortunate to represent ``the 
salad bowl of the United States,'' the Salinas Valley in Monterey 
County. The production of agriculture there in just one county is about 
$4 billion, and it's about 85 different crops. And those crops are what 
we call fresh crops. That means they go from the field to your fork. 
And we need to make sure we have all the research that's necessary to 
make those things fresh and safe for you.
  I am also keen on this committee because this is the committee that's 
in charge of putting the funds in for school nutrition programs and all 
the other kinds of nutrition programs, food stamps and the WIC program, 
Women, Infants, and Children. And these are the nutrition programs that 
are so essential to getting the right start and a healthy start not 
only in the beginning of life but for every day in our schools. And we 
have a lot of work to do in that area.
  I'd also like to thank the chairwoman because she has been very 
involved in plusing-up the Buildings and Facilities Account in order to 
advance some of these important construction projects that would allow 
research to continue. I have a very active agriculture research station 
in Salinas, and it's leading the way on crop improvement protection.
  So I appreciate what both Mr. Kingston and Ms. DeLauro have done in 
bringing this bill and the conference report to us today, and I would 
strongly urge that all our Members support this. This is going to 
appropriate money to keep the Department of Agriculture and Food and 
Drug and safety going for another year with conditions that I think are 
very meaningful for this year in the United States.
  It's a good bill and it deserves support. A lot of hard work went 
into it, and I thank them for their leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Agriculture 
Appropriations Conference Report for fiscal year 2010.
  Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Kingston are to be commended 
for the product they helped craft. As a member of the Subcommittee I 
know that there are differences in ideas and I appreciate the 
Chairwoman's efforts to have open debate.
  Mr. Speaker--the food and fiber produced in this country is the 
lifeblood of our nation. This bill continues to focus on the needs of 
all Americans, both rural and urban.
  It is imperative that we continue to fund priority areas such and 
research, food safety, nutrition programs and pest detection--just to 
name a few--that are important to the nation as well as my constituents 
on California's Central Coast.
  I am fortunate to represent the Salad Bowl of the World, the Salinas 
Valley in Monterey County, that has a production value for agriculture 
of almost $4 billion last year, according to Eric Lauritzen, our County 
Agriculture Commissioner.
  We grow primarily for a fresh market, and the investments made in 
this bill for research, pest detection and food safety are paramount to 
the growers because without them they couldn't do business.
  Agricultural research is an everyday job for many in the Salinas 
Valley, and the Agriculture Research Service's Research Station in 
Salinas is leading the way in crop improvement and protection.
  Every day, the station's researchers are making agriculture better 
for all of us. From organics, verticillium wilt and vine mealy bug 
research to methyl bromide alternatives and treatments for postharvest 
pest control on perishable commodities, Salinas is leading the charge 
to keep our food supplies healthy and safe.
  The Chairwoman and I have discussed at length many times the need to 
plus-up the Buildings and Facilities Account in order to advance some 
of these important construction projects.
  I appreciate the gentlewoman's efforts to increase the B&F this year 
and look forward to working with you in the future to find a solution 
so we can get shovels in the ground for many of these vital research 
facilities.
  Having the largest fresh production capacity in the world, my growers 
know how important food safety is. They have already invested millions 
of dollars in their own resources to provide safe and wholesome food to 
the nation and the world.
  I also appreciate the gentlewoman's efforts to help FDA improve the 
safety of domestic and imported food by adding $306 million above the 
investment we made 2009.
  It is time that FDA receives necessary resources to perform time-
critical inspections when dealing with the fresh market.
  No less important than food safety is pest detection. I am especially 
glad this conference agreement bolstered the APHIS account in this 
area. We have in recent outbreaks that strong pest detection program 
that prevent outbreaks of invasive species in the first place is the 
most cost-effective way to deal with pests and diseases that are not 
native to our country.
  Finally I would be remiss not to mention the investment made in this 
conference report for nutrition. In a country as bountiful as ours, it 
is unacceptable that so many still go to bed hungry.
  This conference report includes a one-year extension for the child 
nutrition program authorities and has reinvested $150 million in 
savings back into the child nutrition programs to fund select 
administration and committee priorities for reducing childhood hunger 
and improving child nutrition, building program capacity and improving 
program access and program performance.
  Thank you Chairwoman DeLauro for crafting another outstanding bill, 
and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this conference 
report.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. I thank the chairwoman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the fiscal year 2010 
Agriculture appropriations conference report, and specifically the 
provision included in the bill that will grant Wisconsin a waiver in 
the Child and Adult Food Care Program to serve a third meal through the 
At-Risk After-School Supper Program. As a matter of fact, 
Representative Andre Carson and I have introduced H.R. 3321 that would 
also provide a third After-School Supper meal. I want to thank the 
chairwoman here and Senator Herb Kohl in the Senate for diligently 
putting together a bill with record funding that will help to meet the 
needs of all those who are food insecure.
  Every 35 seconds a child is born into poverty, and in the United 
States 12 million children are at risk of going hungry. In the city of 
Milwaukee, a city I represent, this is the 11th-poorest large city in 
the Nation, and we are in dire need of this expansion.
  Mr. Speaker, as a school-aged youth, I attended school hungry every 
day. But now that our country is facing a recession, all signs point to 
an epidemic of hunger unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime. 
Between 2000 and 2007, the number of people we have seen living in 
poverty and suffering from very low food security rose from 8.5 million 
to 11.9 million. This is a 40 percent increase in the numbers of 
households living in poverty.
  In my own city of Milwaukee, we have the largest achievement gap 
between blacks and whites in Wisconsin. But studies have shown that 
students who eat nutritious meals every day perform better on 
standardized tests, improve reading and are more attentive in class. 
Every single day this program provides 3.1 million children with 
nutritious meals.

[[Page H11075]]

  Mr. Speaker, I again congratulate the gentlewoman.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about some of the great 
research that we have done in agriculture which I think is important.
  A few years ago I was talking to an ag researcher down in south 
Georgia, and he's an entomologist and has been doing some work with 
wasps, and he found out that wasps react differently around gunpowder. 
And it was a fascinating study because they thought maybe there would 
be an application in the war on terrorism with wasps, and they might be 
cheaper than using these very expensive canine dogs to sniff cars. I 
thought that's pretty interesting. I don't know how they're going to do 
it. I don't want wasps let loose in my car the way these dogs are. But 
that's just one example of some of the research that's being done that 
could potentially save us money.
  Another example of some of the great research is, take a city like 
New Orleans. They have a huge problem with subterranean termites. 
Termites are a fascinating animal. The more you learn about it, the 
more you appreciate them. They actually can change sexes. They can live 
underground in colonies for years and years. But when they run out of 
wood, they start burrowing holes in all directions trying to find 
another piece of wood, and when they can't find one, they start coming 
up to our foundation. Now, that is millions of dollars a year, millions 
of dollars a year that we have in termite damage that this bill seeks 
to study.
  Another thing, and it doesn't affect my friend up in Connecticut, but 
everybody in the South who has ever eaten a proper breakfast with grits 
knows that if you leave the grits in the cabinet too long, it doesn't 
matter how good your bug spray is. There are grubs coming up. I know I 
shouldn't be telling you this before I invite you over to eat at my 
house. But a problem in any household that has flour or something is 
that after a while, if you leave it on the shelf, you start getting 
these bugs that get in it. And you wonder how do they get in there? 
They actually come as part of the meal, and that's not the meal you eat 
but the meal from the meal. And the question is, how do you stop that 
problem? Ag research is doing that kind of work, and it's an example of 
some of the things that we're looking at in this bill.
  So while we do have some disagreements on the funding, we both 
believe passionately, as Mr. Farr said, let the smart guys with the 
white coats in the back room study these things and come up with new 
inventions and new technologies.
  At the University of Georgia one of the labs is studying getting fuel 
from algae. And, of course, we know algae can be a problem. If they can 
figure out how to make fuel out of it, it would be a wonderful thing. 
Kudzu, a plant that we actually imported from China maybe 60 or 70 
years ago to stop erosion in the South, has grown wild, and yet the 
University of Tennessee is trying to figure out can you get fuel from 
kudzu?

                              {time}  1730

  They're doing the same thing with pine trees. Can you make cellulosic 
ethanol out of pine trees and, if so, a State like Georgia, which is 
about 66 percent in trees, we would become the Saudi Arabia of 
cellulosic ethanol. So it would be a great thing.
  We're excited about this. There are so many great mysteries that we 
have yet to solve in our plants and animal world that this bill does 
study.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I would be happy to accept an invitation for breakfast. 
I love grits with butter and salt. What do you put first, the butter or 
the salt? I'll take your advice on that.
  Mr. KINGSTON. If my friend will yield.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I'd be happy to yield.
  Mr. KINGSTON. The great thing about really great grits is you put 
cheese in them.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Amen.
  Mr. KINGSTON. But the invitation is open.
  Ms. DeLAURO. With that, let me yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee. I thank the chairman and ranking member for 
their work in bringing before the floor the conference agreement 
between the House and the Senate.
  I rise in support of the conference agreement for H.R. 2997, the 
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and 
Related Agencies Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010. I believe this is 
a robust investment in America's farming and rural development needs, 
and it ensures a brighter economic future for all Americans.
  I am particularly pleased with the investment in America's farmers, 
both through funding for agriculture research and for farm production. 
As a long-time farmer, and also a former employee of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, I understand firsthand how focused 
investments make concrete differences in America's food production as 
well as the folks that work tirelessly to provide it.
  Contained in this conference agreement, the Agriculture Research 
receives a 5 percent increase from the current level of funding. This 
vital service provides research in a variety of areas, including bio-
based products, bioenergy, floriculture, and nurseries. Included in the 
approximate 100 research locations nationwide that are funded by ARS is 
the University of Tennessee; the Institute of Agriculture, which is 
conducting bioenergy research on converting switchgrass into cellulosic 
ethanol. Research on clean bioenergy is vital to America's quest to 
become energy independent.
  Also included is increased funding for research to provide early 
warning technologies for the detection of crop disease to prevent crop 
failure from natural causes or a terrorist event. The research 
addresses needs to produce such a system that could take advantage of 
biotech advances to develop a precision agriculture tool for guarding 
America's crops.
  Further, I am pleased by the increase in funding for the Farm Service 
Agency. The FSA administers major commodity programs and farm loan 
programs such as the Farm Ownership and Farm Operating loan programs. 
Farm Ownership loans, which received a 47 percent increase through 
fiscal year 2009 funding levels, often provided the initial investments 
to help farmers acquire and expand land ownership. Farm operating 
loans, which receive a 43 percent increase from fiscal year 2009 
funding levels, allow farmers to purchase equipment, livestock, and 
seed. This funding is critical to ensure the continued role of America 
as the world's greatest agriculture producer.
  As a lifelong farmer representing the district with the fourth 
largest percentage of rural residents, I am proud to support these 
investments and urge passage of the conference agreement for H.R. 2997. 
Saying that is the fourth largest congressional district, as far as 
rural residents that I represent, means we have a variety and probably 
one of the most diverse agriculture districts in America: cotton, 
soybeans, corn, nursery stock. We have timber; both beef cattle and 
dairy cattle.
  We also have a large poultry, the broiler industry, across the 
Cumberland Plateau, in the southern part of the plateau and the 
northern part of the plateau.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Weiner). The time of the gentleman has 
expired.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield the gentleman an 
additional 1 minute.
  Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee. I am pleased that in this legislation it at 
least addresses import and reimportation of poultry that may be 
produced here in America. There are some guards and some guidelines 
that I think we must have.
  I have been a poultry producer of broilers as a youngster growing up 
on a farm in Fentress County, Tennessee; and I know if we allow the 
poultry industry to be run out of business, it will destroy many of the 
farms in the Fourth Congressional District that I represent.
  So I am pleased that our chairman was willing to work an agreement 
that would at least require certain inspection to be sure that safe 
food was imported into America from poultry and to also help protect 
our poultry industry in America and certainly in the Fourth 
Congressional District.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I just wanted to thank the Chair and the majority staff for all of 
the good

[[Page H11076]]

work. We have had a very good process. I congratulate you on passing 
this bill as among the very first--and let the record show that if it 
was up to Agriculture, we would adjourn on time, whenever that may be.
  And also I want to thank you for working with us on poultry, as Mr. 
Davis said. It's very, very important to particular States especially. 
And having a Chinese market is important but at the same time--you 
know, what Ms. Kaptur said is very interesting. She said we don't need 
to be importing food; we need to produce our own food and then 
exporting that which is left. And yet as important as that is 
economically, you have always focused on the food safety as you should 
as the number one value. And I think that's important because if you 
are importing or exporting food that is not inspected and it is not at 
the highest quality and standard of food safety, then we're not doing 
our job.
  So I certainly commend you for keeping that bar very high, and yet we 
were able to work something out. I've enjoyed the whole process.
  My concern with the bill--as you know I've been very open about it--
has something to do beyond this room, if you will, in terms of the 
spending picture. But having been in the majority, I know that your job 
is to come together with lots of different factions and philosophies, 
and I think you have done a great job on it. I am proud to be your 
ranking member and look forward to a long relationship, and you are 
going to love my grits.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. First of all, let me just say thank you to the ranking 
member, Mr. Kingston; and, in fact, it is a pleasure to work with Mr. 
Kingston. We always say that we may have philosophical differences, but 
we are good-natured about it and understand that and work in a very 
collaborative effort. And I, too, thank you for all of your help and 
your input with regard to the issue of Chinese poultry. It was a long 
discussion, but one in which I think we came to a conclusion as our 
colleague, Mr. Davis, said being able to strike that balance where we 
are able to protect the public health and at the same time to protect 
an industry. And I feel good about that.
  And I, too, look forward to our continued efforts together as we 
approach problems--as you know and I do--that really face people with 
the jurisdiction that we have that comes under this portfolio. It 
really touches people's lives in so, so many ways. And I know that you 
have a deep and abiding concern for what happens to our farmers and our 
ranchers, what's happening to our industries and to making sure that we 
have the wherewithal and provide the resources people need to succeed.
  I would like to, if I might, just make one further comment, and then 
we'll yield back whatever time is remaining.
  I wanted to bring the attention of my colleagues to an important 
matter of health and safety. And when we talked about the child 
nutrition program and its extension, our Nation's schoolchildren and 
the people who work with them on a daily basis are faced with a growing 
public health concern. Awareness of vaccine for H1N1 flu, annual flu 
has made the front pages of our communities these days.
  You've got school food service workers who face a very difficult 
dilemma in trying to do their jobs. They don't have any paid sick 
leave. These are people without any leave. So there's thousands of food 
service workers who pose a real risk to the health and safety of our 
Nation's kids. And the comment is ``show up for work or do not get 
paid.''
  So rather than exacerbating the problems, these workers can and 
should be part of the solution to ensuring the health and safety of our 
children. I look forward to working in the months ahead as Education 
and Labor looks to reauthorize their legislation, and I pledge to work 
with my colleagues to see if we can provide a minimum and a reasonable 
standard for paid sick leave for school service workers.
  In the meantime, I am also encouraging the administration to examine 
this issue because I think it is a health problem and the Nation's 
well-being depends on it.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the FY 2010 
Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration 
Appropriations Conference Report, and I commend Chairwoman DeLauro for 
bringing this bipartisan legislation to the floor today.
  The FY 2010 Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug 
Administration Appropriations bill makes key investments in protecting 
our public health, bolstering food nutrition programs, and conserving 
our natural resources.
  The conference report provides $2.36 billion for the Food and Drug 
Administration, which represents a 15 percent increase over last year. 
We need to ensure that the FDA has the necessary tools and resources to 
fulfill its vital mission in protecting the American public so that 
FDA-regulated products, like food, are safe. This important investment 
in the FDA will help the agency in meeting its mission in protecting 
the public health.
  The $58 billion provided for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program will help low income and elderly Americans struggling with 
rising food costs in this current economic downturn. In addition, $7.3 
billion is provided for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for 
Women, Infants, and Children, WIC, to help encourage a healthy 
pregnancy for women and promote a healthy start for their children.
  This legislation provides $1 billion for the Natural Resources 
Conservation Service to help face the demands for cleaner water, 
reduced soil erosion, and more wildlife habitat. I am particularly 
pleased that almost $4 million is provided for Chesapeake Bay 
restoration activities that will provide farmers, landowners, and 
communities within the Chesapeake Bay watershed technical assistance in 
implementing important conservation programs which will help improve 
the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this conference report.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 799, the 
previous question is ordered.
  The question is on the conference report.
  Pursuant to clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-minute vote on adopting the 
conference report will be followed by 5-minute votes on suspending the 
rules and agreeing to H. Res. 806 and H. Res. 795.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 263, 
nays 162, not voting 7, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 761]

                               YEAS--263

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boccieri
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Bright
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Butterfield
     Cao
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carson (IN)
     Carter
     Castor (FL)
     Chandler
     Childers
     Chu
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly (IN)
     Doyle
     Driehaus
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Giffords
     Gonzalez
     Gordon (TN)
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Griffith
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harman
     Harper
     Hastings (FL)
     Heinrich
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Himes
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E.B.
     Jones
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kosmas
     Kratovil
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NY)
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Markey (CO)
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Massa
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McMahon
     McNerney
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Minnick
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy (NY)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Perriello
     Peterson
     Pingree (ME)
     Polis (CO)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Putnam
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rooney

[[Page H11077]]


     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schock
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Souder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Teague
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)

                               NAYS--162

     Aderholt
     Adler (NJ)
     Akin
     Alexander
     Altmire
     Austria
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Chaffetz
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Conaway
     Costello
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Fallin
     Flake
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Guthrie
     Hastings (WA)
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hill
     Hoekstra
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Jordan (OH)
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline (MN)
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     Lucas
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Matheson
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, Gary
     Mitchell
     Moran (KS)
     Myrick
     Nunes
     Nye
     Olson
     Paul
     Paulsen
     Pence
     Peters
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Scalise
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (TX)
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walden
     Wamp
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Carney
     Johnson, Sam
     Maloney
     Neugebauer
     Radanovich
     Ruppersberger
     Tsongas

                              {time}  1805

  Mr. ALTMIRE changed his vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Mr. SPRATT, Mr. CARTER and Mrs. MILLER of Michigan changed their vote 
from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the conference report was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________