[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 194 (Wednesday, November 29, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H9471-H9472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PAYING TRIBUTE TO GUS SCHUMACHER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a great American, a 
man named Gus Schumacher, a man whose enduring legacy and indefatigable 
work ethic in the field of agriculture improved the lives of untold 
millions of people in our country and those America touches around the 
world--yes, farmers from all walks of life, including the smallest 
producers, not just the biggest, including people who are hungry.
  I remember one time Gus spoke with me about going through nursing 
homes in western Iowa and how America had to do a better job of 
reaching places that were forgotten, places that you would not expect 
to find hungry people.
  Gus' work touched people across a broad variety of pursuits. He 
wasn't limited by the false urban-rural divide that our country lives 
with, and he touched citizens across the income spectrum.
  It was with deep sadness that we learned of the news that Gus, a 
former Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for both 
Democratic and Republican Presidents, Bill

[[Page H9472]]

Clinton and George Bush, and a founding board chair of an organization 
called Wholesome Wave, passed away unexpectedly last month.

  A few days before his death, he had come to our office offering his 
help to the Congress on the new farm bill. He cared so much about 
people. He cared so much about nutrition. He understood the 
foundational power of agriculture in our Nation, so blessed with the 
resources to feed ourselves and the world if we put our shoulder to the 
wheel.
  Simply, Gus loved and lived agriculture. He had experience from the 
time he was a child that directed him toward farming and all of its 
array. The farmers market was in his DNA.
  He was born in Massachusetts on a farm in Lexington and bridged the 
divide between city and rural dwellers. This approach was the American 
way, the American family way. His grandfather and great-grandfather 
farmed, get this, in New York City, where they grew vegetables in 
enclosed greenhouses and sold what they grew at city markets. He knew 
agriculture from the inside, even inside a place like New York City, 
where now, with modern technology, we are growing lettuce on walls as 
high as the ceiling of this Chamber in which I speak.
  When Gus was young, he was loading up his brother's truck, and a box 
of pears fell off the truck and scattered all over the ground. Two 
young boys and their mother ran up, and they began picking up the 
pears. The mother explained that she was on food stamps and unable to 
afford fresh produce for her kids. Gus' heart broke, and his life's 
work began and he never stopped.
  Gus worked tirelessly to support local farming and local agriculture, 
and I cannot underline local, local, local enough. He became an 
American force in the farm-to-table movement, encouraging restaurants 
and stores to buy produce locally. He saw communities shattered across 
our country when that local production food chain was broken, and he 
used his last ounce of strength to reconnect it.
  Most recently, in preparation for the upcoming farm bill, he 
selflessly helped create provisions in H.R. 3699, the new Urban 
Agriculture Production Act, a bill that really focuses on producing, in 
some of the most forgotten places, with innovative farming practices, 
including in urban food deserts. He never stopped trying.
  I loved him because he loved farmers markets, and I love farmers 
markets. Nothing creates community more than growing and feeding the 
local population. As we move to such large institutions that seem 
almost unapproachable by the average American, Gus was always bringing 
power back to people.
  He expanded programs to include veterans, including the Senior 
Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, as we attempt to pass a new farm 
bill, making sure that our veterans are included in that 
extraordinarily popular coupon program.
  Gus was humble, kind, visionary, passionate, compassionate, generous, 
and dedicated, and a man for all seasons.
  In closing, let me say Gus Schumacher will always be remembered as a 
gentle giant who packed a powerful punch. His impact will not be 
forgotten, and his legacy will live on and carry his dreams forward. 
Mr. Speaker, I will tell you, I am going to devote every ounce of 
energy I have in the new farm bill to making his dreams come true.

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