[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 6, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H1376-H1377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 PASSING A STRONG, BIPARTISAN FARM BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Costa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the challenges 
that we face, not only in my constituency as it relates to California 
agriculture, but a host of other issues as well.
  We are in the process of trying to reauthorize the farm bill, 
something we do every 4 years. It used to be--and we hope it will 
continue this year--one of the more bipartisan efforts we are engaged 
in.
  I represent not only the heartland of the San Joaquin Valley, but 
third-generation farmer.
  Last week--as I do every weekend when I go home--I was walking the 
rows of the almond trees on my ranch outside of Fresno, California. 
They are beautiful. They are in full bloom this time of year. There is 
not a time, though, in the year, in the San Joaquin Valley, where the 
incredible bounty of the 300 crops that we grow are not on display 
because they are always out there.
  The blossoms in the spring grow into the almonds, walnuts, and 
pistachios until late summer. Tomatoes are harvested in August and 
September, followed by cotton in October and November. The dairymen and 
dairy processors work every day because those cows have to be milked 
every day year-round to produce the finest quality milk, cheese, and 
butter.
  As I walked through my orchard, I remembered the countless stories 
and insights by my fellow California farmers, ranchers, dairymen and -
women shared with me over the past year, and I think about my father, 
who farmed all of his life, and my grandfather.
  In anticipation of the 2018 farm bill, I have held round tables and 
listening sessions, attended agriculture townhalls, and met with our 
farmers and farm workers, who, every day, work so hard to put those 
food products on America's dinner table.
  I have done this to hear firsthand the concerns and priorities of our 
local producers, farm workers, and nutrition organizations regarding 
our Nation's food supply.
  I have also had numerous meetings with key agriculture and trade 
officials, including Agriculture Secretary Perdue, who has been out to 
California a number of times.
  And as we in Congress move together with farm bill negotiations, we 
must maintain strong support for the cultivation and production of 
fresh fruits and vegetables, which are the foundation of a healthy 
diet. California produces over half of the Nation's fruits and 
vegetables. It is truly amazing. Three hundred crops.

  We must also make sure that we do not abandon our Nation's most 
vulnerable through inhumane cuts to the nutrition programs that provide 
a steady source of food to our Nation's food supply. We are talking 
about our safety net, we are talking about the SNAP program, and we are 
talking about Women, Infants, and Children. This has been part of the 
glue on a bipartisan basis that has kept Democrats and Republicans 
together in the reauthorization of the farm bill.
  But we must have a safety net for those who are most unfortunate in 
our society. We should work to expand foreign markets for our products 
and to incentivize sound conservation practices and research. Research 
is very important to ensure the sustainability. Sustainability is 
critical--and continued growth of American agriculture.
  We have the opportunity with the farm bill to address the crippling 
agriculture labor crisis afflicting our farms, and it must be addressed 
as we look at a broken immigration system that not only impacts our 
Dreamers--the DACA program--but a reliable supply of farm labor.
  These are all among the issues that we must address to ensure that 
our Nation's food supply is reliable, because, guess what, it is a 
national security issue. People don't look at it that way. People go 
into the grocery store and they think: Well, what is the problem; 
grocery stores have all the food in the world. They go to the 
restaurants, and they have all the food that you need.
  But the food doesn't go to the grocery store or to those restaurants 
without it being grown by America's men

[[Page H1377]]

and women who labor--less than 3 percent of the Nation's population--to 
produce the finest, highest quality, greatest yield, most nutritious 
food anywhere in the world, every night on America's dinner table.
  That is why we must come together--Democrats and Republicans--to 
improve our Nation's food supply by passing a strong, bipartisan farm 
bill.


    Fifth Anniversary of Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act

  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the fifth 
anniversary of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, 
otherwise known as VAWRA.
  Protecting the Violence Against Women Act is one of our top 
priorities in the Victims' Rights Caucus, a bipartisan House caucus 
that Congressman Ted Poe and I organized some 10 years ago.

                              {time}  1015

  The law seeks to both prevent violence in our communities and 
provides services to survivors of violence, in part, by encouraging 
collaboration among local law enforcement, traditional personnel, and 
the private sector organizations, NGOs. In my district, these 
organizations collaborate, and they have been vital in helping 
survivors of violence.
  We must have numerous organizations working tirelessly together to 
support the victims of crime. In my district, they include the Marjaree 
Mason Center, Central California Legal Services, Choice Women 
Empowerment, Centro La Familia, and Valley Crisis Center. This is 
critical to end violence not only in our valley, but in our Nation, and 
that is why we must come together to end this violence, to ensure that 
the survivors have access to services for essential recovery.
  We cannot stop, and we must end this horrendous violence once and for 
all. That is why we must support the Violence Against Women Act.

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