[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 17, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1561-H1562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL AGRICULTURE WEEK

  (Mr. TIAHRT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, this is National Ag Week, and I want to 
express my support and appreciation for our Nation's farmers and 
ranchers, especially those from my home State of Kansas.

[[Page H1562]]

  Kansas farmers produce more than 350 million bushels of wheat, 200 
million bushels of sorghum, and nearly 500 million bushels of corn, 
generating more than $5 billion annually for our economy. Our ranchers 
produced more than 6.3 billion head of cattle this year. Each farmer 
feeds more than 130 people. It is their hard work that has ensured 
America a safe, low-cost feed supply.
  Now, I learned about agriculture on the seat of a tractor, not a 
committee, and I know firsthand just how hard farmers work. Too many 
people here in Washington have no clue how the policies they pass 
affect farm life, often making things more difficult for farmers and 
ranchers.
  Congress and bureaucracies need to freeze regulations and let the 
agricultural community do their job of feeding the world. We need to 
have the EPA step back from the regulations of everything from dust to 
cow gas. We need to eliminate the death tax so family farms can stay in 
the family. And please, let us restore the focus of the farm bill on 
the family farm and not on the cities.
  So tonight, Mr. Speaker, as you sit down to dinner, remember to thank 
a farmer for making your meal possible.

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