[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 20, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H5647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL RICE MONTH

  (Mr. ABRAHAM asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. Speaker, the month of September is National Rice 
Month, a time when we honor the more than 100,000 Americans involved in 
the rice industry, from the thousands of family farms spread mostly 
across eight States, to the men and women working in the mills and food 
processing plants across the country.
  The reason September is National Rice Month is because, 
traditionally, this is when we harvest our rice. Right now, American 
family rice farmers are harvesting what will end up being about 18 
billion pounds of rice off 3 million acres spread across sustainably 
managed farmland. My district alone, in Louisiana, produces an annual 
crop worth over $119 million from over 110,000 planted acres across 11 
parishes.
  Much of the United States' annual rice production will be exported to 
more than 120 countries around the globe, and much of that will be 
distributed as humanitarian aid.
  This complex carbohydrate of rice is an excellent source of protein, 
fiber, energy, and antioxidants. Here in the U.S., white rice is 
enriched with more than 15 vitamins and minerals and is fortified with 
folic acid which, by the way, has been proven to dramatically reduce 
birth defects.
  The U.S. rice industry, while it may seem small, provides 125,000 
jobs and a whopping $34 billion impact on the U.S. economy.

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