[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 59 (Thursday, April 12, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2085-S2086]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Hemp Farming Act

  Mr. President, that is why a number of us have been working hard on 
legislation that would get government out of the way in another 
important respect. As the tobacco industry has changed, some farmers in 
States like Kentucky have been searching for a new crop that can 
support their families and grow our agricultural economy. Many believe 
they found such a product--industrial hemp--but the Federal Government 
has stood in the way. It is time to change that. That is why some 
colleagues and I are introducing legislation that will modernize 
Federal law in this area and empower American farmers to explore this 
promising new market.
  I want to thank my fellow Kentuckian, Congressman Jamie Comer, and my 
good friend and colleague from Oregon, Senator Wyden, for their 
leadership on this issue, as well as Senator Merkley for his support.
  During the recent State work period, I stood with Kentucky's 
agriculture commissioner, Ryan Quarles, to announce my intention to 
introduce new legislation on this subject. Today we are introducing the 
Hemp Farming Act of 2018. It will build on the success of recent pilot 
programs and take a big step toward growth and more innovation. As I 
travel across Kentucky, I have spoken with farmers, manufacturers, and 
small business owners. Time and again, they shared with me their 
enthusiasm for hemp's potential to reenergize agricultural communities 
and provide a new spark to the U.S. economy. This bill will help make 
that potential a reality.
  But first, let's remember how we got to this point. In 2014, I 
secured language in the farm bill that established hemp pilot programs 
in States that allow hemp research. The results have been 
extraordinary.
  In Kentucky, hemp is proving useful across a wide variety of 
innovative products. Its fibers are being added to concrete and home 
insulation. Its extracts are being researched for potential health 
benefits. Some breweries in Kentucky have even crafted hemp-infused 
beer. Last year alone, the hemp industry added 81 new jobs in Kentucky 
and yielded more than $16 million for Kentucky farmers. That is just 
under Kentucky's research pilot program.
  Of course, that is just one State. Already, in fact, around $600 
million in hemp products are sold each year here in the United States. 
Due to current laws, much of this hemp has to be imported. That cuts 
out our American farmers. It is time for that to change. The 
legislation we are introducing today will solve this problem and get 
the Federal Government out of the way of this promising market.
  The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 will do the following:
  First and foremost, our bill will finally legalize hemp and remove it 
from the list of controlled substances. By recognizing the difference 
in statute between hemp and its illicit cousin, we can remove much of 
the confusion facing farmers, producers, and State agencies.

[[Page S2086]]

  Second, the legislation will allow States to become the primary 
regulators of hemp, if they can develop a plan to properly monitor its 
production.
  Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Quarles is a strong supporter of 
hemp and its potential, and under his guidance, the industry is already 
growing and maturing in Kentucky through the pilot program. He and 
State leaders like him around the country are well positioned to 
develop their own policies and take the industry to the next level. If 
States are unable or choose not to create their own regulatory plan, 
the U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide the necessary 
oversight.
  Third, this bill will also allow researchers to apply for competitive 
Federal grants from the USDA, so we can continue to see more innovation 
with respect to this extraordinarily versatile crop.
  Finally, our legislation will also explicitly make hemp farmers 
eligible to apply for crop insurance. That will enable farmers to build 
out a steady business model and put it on a level playing field with 
other crops.
  I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues here in Congress 
and hemp farmers in Kentucky and throughout the Nation on this 
legislation.
  Again, I particularly thank Senator Wyden and Senator Merkley for 
working with me on this bipartisan bill. I also thank Congressman 
Comer, a longtime advocate for hemp--who, by the way, is a former 
agriculture commissioner in Kentucky--for taking the lead in 
introducing companion legislation over in the House. I will be proud to 
continue to work with him on this issue.
  Today is a promising step. I am hopeful that together we can get this 
bill across the finish line and onto the President's desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the majority leader said that this is a 
promising day, and I would just say that I think it is more than that. 
It is really a milestone to have the majority leader of the Senate 
working with a bipartisan group of us to lift a restriction that is 
anti-farmer, certainly anti-consumer, and anti-common sense. This 
industrial hemp restriction really, in my view, is working in needless 
hardships from sea to shining sea.
  I am going to take a minute to build on some of the majority leader's 
remarks.
  Colleagues may have heard me say that, for me, this issue goes back 
several years. My wife was pregnant, and she and I headed from our 
house in Southeast Portland, and we went off to the nearby Costco 
store. We were walking through the aisles, and we came across a huge 
bag of hemp hearts. It said: Great fiber. Terrific source of protein. A 
variety of different attributes were spelled out on this package. Good 
for your heart, and good for your blood pressure.
  I looked at the package, and the package clearly indicated that it 
had been grown outside the United States. So I said to my wife, who is 
a businesswoman and savvy about such matters: What would be wrong with 
saying that if you can buy it in a major supermarket in America, our 
farmers ought to be able to grow it in America?
  She said: Well, dear, that just sounds way too logical for what goes 
on in your world.
  I think what the leader has said--and I just want to back this up 
with a little more detail--is that the current policy is somehow based 
on the idea that hemp is a dangerous drug, meaning that if you look at 
the way some people have attacked this idea in the past, that was 
always the heart of it, that hemp was a dangerous drug.
  Hemp does not produce the high associated with marijuana. The only 
thing you are going to accomplish by smoking hemp is wasting your 
breath, wasting your time, and wasting lighter fluid. That is pretty 
much what you would accomplish. This misguided policy of treating hemp 
like it is some kind of peril, an imminent threat to the American 
people, is, I think, a mistake, and it means that the hemp products 
that are lined up on shelves all across America simply aren't going to 
be fully American-made.
  Senator McConnell and Senator Paul have heard that from farmers in 
Kentucky, and Senator Merkley and I have heard that from farmers in 
Oregon. That is why it is so important that we move to a system that is 
built on common sense, something that will be good for farmers, and 
something that will be good for consumers and certainly offer 
additional consumer choice.
  If I might build on the now sort of memorialized words of Nancy 
Wyden, because when we talked about, hey, if you can buy it in a market 
in Oregon, the farmers ought to be able to grow it--I think that is a 
pretty good watchword for this bipartisan bill we are undertaking.

  I look forward to working closely with you, Mr. Leader. We are 
obviously going to be working with Chairman Roberts and Senator 
Stabenow, the ranking Democratic leader. This is long, long overdue.
  As you noted, we have bipartisan supporters, and we are going to pull 
out all the stops to get this legislation passed. I think I mentioned 
to the majority leader that those who have been involved in this 
effort--and it has been a really impressive coalition of farmers, 
health advocates, and others--are watching the Senate this morning. 
They are saying that the Senate has finally come to understand what is 
relevant for this century. The policies that have been so flawed in the 
past are sort of outdated relics of yesteryear, and I am pleased that 
Senator Merkley and I can join you and Senator Paul. We will have 
colleagues on both sides involved in this legislation. It is long 
overdue.
  I thank the leader.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I thank my friend from Oregon. I think 
this is a great project we can work on together.
  During the recent break, I met with a lot of farmers in Kentucky. 
Since farmers demographically tend to be older in most of our States, I 
thought it was particularly noteworthy that there were a lot of young, 
enthusiastic farmers, including research people from the University of 
Kentucky College of Agriculture, with genuine enthusiasm about what 
this could mean to help reinvigorate a rural economy in Kentucky that 
is not what it used to be when we had tobacco as our No. 1 cash crop. 
That has faded, and it should have, given the health implications of 
it.
  This is an opportunity for us to do something together, to do 
something important for rural America, and I look forward to working 
with my friend and colleague to achieve success.