[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 109 (Thursday, June 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4717-S4719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               FARM BILL

  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, with 171 amendments and a vote of 86 to 
11, obviously, getting this farm bill done has been a tremendous team 
effort. You are only as good as your staff on both sides of the aisle, 
and they make us look good when we stand up here a little confused 
trying to get things a little sorted out.
  I wish to thank my staff: James Glueck, DaNita Murray, Janae Brady, 
Fred Clark, Meghan Cline, Haley Donahue, Matt Erickson, Darin Guries, 
Chance Hunley, Chu Hwang, Chelsie Keys, Sarah Little, Curt Mann, Andy 
Rezendes, Bob Rosado, Anthony Seiler, Wayne Stoskopf--who, by the way, 
knows more about farm programs than anybody else on the staff, myself 
included--Andrew Vlasaty, and Katherine Thomas.
  I also want to mention Jackie Cottrell, Amber Kirchhoefer, Will 
Stafford, Morgan Anderson, and Stacy Daniels in my personal office.
  I want to especially thank the ranking member--vice chairman, 
really--Senator Stabenow, and her team, led by the indomitable Joe 
Shultz and Jacqlyn Schneider. The efforts of Jessie Williams, Amanda 
Kelly, Bobby Mehta, Katie Salay, and Micah Wortham have been valuable 
to the Ag Committee process.
  Additionally, I thank the technical support from the Secretary of 
Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, and the staff at the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture. Thank you so much for your help.
  I also appreciate the work of the Congressional Budget Office staff, 
including: Tiffany Arthur, Megan Carroll, Kathleen FitzGerald, Jennifer 
Gray, Jim Langley, and Robert Reese.
  I now yield to my distinguished ranking member, Senator Stabenow.
  I say to the Senator, thank you for being such a great partner.
  Ms. STABENOW. I thank the Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I thank my partner and friend. This has 
been a tremendous team effort, and it is a great pleasure to work with 
the chairman.
  Today the Senate has proven that bipartisanship is the way we can get 
things done, and we all know that is the case. It is not always the 
easiest path to take. However, when we put our differences aside and 
focus on the needs of the communities and people we serve, that is how 
we deliver a good bill. In this case, it is a bill that serves our 
farmers, our families, and rural America. Over 500 food, agriculture, 
and conservation leaders agree that this bill will provide certainty to 
communities and to our farmers across the country.
  From the start, we have had a collaborative process. We have built 
this bill on feedback. We heard from farmers and local leaders at field 
hearings and in our committee room. We added ideas proposed by Members 
on both sides of the aisle, both on and off the committee. From our 
committee markup to today, we have incorporated a total of 171 either 
bipartisan bills introduced by Members or bipartisan amendments--171.
  We were able to get a bill done because we never lost sight of the 
importance of our agricultural economy and the 16 million jobs it 
supports. I am proud that we voted in a bipartisan way to move this 
bill forward. That is the good news for rural America and the men and 
women who work hard every day to give us the safest, most affordable 
food supply in the world.
  Let me now give some thank-yous. As the chairman indicated, there are 
many.
  I appreciate very much the work of our Democratic leader and his 
staff for their leadership and support through the process. I thank the 
majority leader, who knows how important agriculture is to Kentucky. I 
think we have some things in this bill that are going to make for an 
even stronger agricultural economy in Kentucky, as well as around the 
country. I appreciate that he moved this bill quickly on the Senate 
floor.
  Of course, I have to thank my friend and partner Senator Roberts, who 
is chairman of the committee. He has stayed true to our commitment to 
deliver a bipartisan bill and has worked extremely hard to get us here 
today. I say: Congratulations, Mr. Chairman, and to all of our Senate 
colleagues who supported this important bill.
  I thank my incredible staff, as well as Senator Roberts' incredible 
staff, for working together very hard, very consistently, putting 
together a bipartisan bill--really, a historic farm bill--and 
ultimately working as a team to get us over the goal line.
  Of course, Joe Shultz and Jacqlyn Schneider, my staff director and 
deputy staff director and policy director for the committee--true 
leaders from start to finish. They have both been with me on the 
committee staff since the very beginning, in 2011, when I chaired the 
committee.
  Joe has led our amazing team and has been living and breathing the 
farm bill for the past year. You can sleep tonight, Joe.
  Jacqlyn has done so as well. Jacqlyn is the heart and soul of our Ag 
Committee, whose tremendous work over the past two farm bills has made 
sure that we were protecting our families and supporting our specialty 
crop producers. She led our efforts to develop groundbreaking new 
initiatives on food access, like Double Up Food Bucks.
  Mary Beth Schultz, our chief counsel, had no idea what she was 
getting herself into when she came to the Ag Committee this last year. 
In no time, she

[[Page S4718]]

became a farm bill expert who kept track of every page and every 
amendment to make sure this process was successful.
  Mike Schmidt and Kyle Varner, our amazing commodities and livestock 
team, understand the ins and outs of farm policy like nobody else. They 
have done so much to improve our dairy programs, expand risk management 
tools to specialty crops, and support new and beginning farmers.
  Ashley McKeon led our work on the conservation title to expand our 
partnership programs. She brings her warmth, personality, and expertise 
to the job every day.
  Sean Babington, our forestry and environmental expert, has impeccable 
judgment and negotiating skills that we rely on daily, and he helped 
get us to this point of there being a final farm bill as well.
  Thanks to both Ashley and Sean, our country will have healthy 
forests, more wildlife habitat, and clean waters for generations to 
come.
  Katie Naessens' hard work led to the major advances in this bill for 
urban agriculture, organics, beginning farmers, and veterans who want 
to go into agriculture. I am so proud of the Farmer Veterans Programs 
in Michigan.
  Kevin Bailey led our efforts on expanding high-speed internet for 
rural communities and on the rural development and energy titles so we 
can continue to grow the bio-based economy in rural America.
  Katie Bergh led our work on international trade and fought to 
preserve markets for Michigan producers from cherries to dairy, and she 
helped improve our food aid policies in the United States and abroad.
  Rosalyn Brummette is the glue that keeps our team together. She kept 
the trains running on time and made sure we were all prepared to do 
what needed to be done. I thank her so much.
  We also had fantastic help from farm bill veteran Susan Keith, who 
provided invaluable wisdom and counsel to our commodity and livestock 
team.
  Ward Griffin, our CFTC detail to the committee, is not only an expert 
on financial issues, but he has become a full-fledged member of the 
team, jumping in to help wherever needed. We are grateful.
  Jason Sherman, a lawyer and fellow from the Department of Energy, has 
a keen eye and legal mind. Both were invaluable on environmental and 
conservation issues.
  Now to my personal Senate staff, who were a very important part of 
the team as well: I thank Matt VanKuiken, my chief of staff, who leads 
my personal office team, and my legislative director, Emily Carwell, 
who followed the floor procedure, was involved in negotiations, and 
made sure everything was happening the way it should have been. I thank 
them and all of our team in the personal office for being a part of 
this effort.
  Of course, I thank Krystal Lattany, who always makes sure that I am 
getting where I need to be, so I am in the right place for 
negotiations.
  I thank Anne Stanski, my deputy chief of staff, Matt Williams, my 
communications director, and Jess McCarron, our ag press secretary, who 
made sure we were telling the story of the farmers and families who are 
affected by the farm bill.
  We couldn't have done it without the help of the rest of our 
communications team: Miranda Margowsky, Nirmeen Fahmy, and Amy Phillips 
Bursch. I also thank my State team, which is led by Teresa Plachetka, 
and Kali Fox, who leads our agriculture work in Michigan.
  I also thank Senator Roberts' team. It was truly wonderful working 
with James Glueck and DaNita Murray, who are true pros. I thank them 
for their hard work, creativity, and tenacity in helping to get us to 
this point. Our team spent many long hours together, and I am grateful 
that even our staffs worked together in a wonderful, bipartisan way 
just as the chairman and I did.
  Of course, I thank Jessie Williams, Amanda Kelly, Bobby Mehta, and 
everyone who works behind the scenes on the Ag Committee.
  Nothing would get done around here without the excellent floor staff, 
led by Gary Myrick and his team, including Tricia Engle and Ryan 
McConaghy.
  The insights of Sean Byrne, with Senator Schumer's staff, and Reema 
Dodin, with Senator Durbin, have been incredibly helpful.
  I should really thank the folks at the CBO, who had late nights at 
the Senate Office of the Legislative Counsel. They worked on weekends 
and had late nights to make sure we had what we needed to get the bill 
done.
  Finally, of course, I thank all of the members of the Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry Committee and their staffs. We have so much 
talent and experience. It is a real privilege to serve as its ranking 
member.
  This farm bill is the product of a year and a half of hard work by a 
long list of very talented people. I cannot thank every single one of 
them individually, but we wouldn't be here today without their help.
  We passed a farm bill today that supports the 16 million jobs in 
America that depend on agriculture. We passed a bill that helps our 
farmers stay resilient, that protects our land and water, that helps 
families keep food on their tables, that invests in our small towns all 
across America, that recognizes the diversity of American agriculture, 
and that strengthens local food economies.
  We should all be very proud of the work we have done today, and I 
thank my colleagues for joining us in such a strong ``yes'' vote in 
passing this bill.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I am very glad my Senate colleagues joined 
me in supporting the Senate farm bill, in fact, with a very strong vote 
of 86 to 11.
  This farm bill is good news for Montana farmers and for Montana 
ranchers, and it is going to help to provide certainty for Montana 
agriculture in these most difficult times because agriculture is 
Montana's No. 1 industry, and it supports tens of thousands of jobs in 
our State. Yet, with more than 25,000 family farms and ranches in 
Montana alone, it is clear that ag is more than just an economic driver 
in our State; it is very much a way of life.
  That is why, as Montana's Representative on the U.S. Senate Ag 
Committee, I fought to ensure that this farm bill reflects the 
priorities that Montana farmers and Montana ranchers have shared 
directly with me. Some of these priorities are the crop insurance and 
the sugar program; ag research funding at Montana State University, as 
well as ag research stations all across Montana; and prioritizing rural 
broadband for Montana's underserved communities, as well as supporting 
and maintaining conservation programs that are important to our 
farmers, to our ranchers, and to our sportsmen.
  This farm bill is also critically important to the health of our 
national forests. Last year in Montana, catastrophic wildfires harmed 
numerous communities, and it cost our State millions of dollars. I am 
glad to have secured important forest reforms that are critical to 
healthy forests, to Montana timber jobs, and to wildlife habitat, such 
as encouraging the coordination among the Forest Service and State 
forestry agencies to restore our forests to reduce the risk of wildfire 
and allowing the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to 
enter into agreements with counties, as well as with States and Tribes, 
to implement forest management projects on national forests and public 
lands. Additionally, there is a provision that will support more 
innovation, as well as to develop new markets for Montana's timber 
industry.
  These are important wins, but I want to make something very clear 
that there is still so much more we can do to help improve the health 
of our forests and support Montana's farmers and ranchers. In fact, in 
Montana, as well as across the West, we are seeing extensive 
collaboration. Groups are collaborating--conservation groups, wildlife 
groups, wood products stakeholders, along with our counties--and they 
are working together to determine responsible forest management 
practices.
  These partners know very well that active management is critical to 
restoring a healthy forest and that it helps to reduce wildfire risks. 
It is important that we don't allow extremists to hinder this most 
important work because, today, it takes 18 to 24 months to do many of 
these environmental reviews. After that is done, many projects in 
Montana are litigated, and this can add years of delay.

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  In fact, listen to this: There are 29 timber sales in Montana that 
are currently impacted by fringe litigation. Just today, we were 
informed that another timber project in Montana has been delayed by a 
restraining order because of litigation. That makes 30. This project 
was scheduled to start this coming Monday, July 2, and now those folks 
will be out of work. Reducing redtape and combating chronic litigation 
doesn't erode public trust. In fact, it safeguards it. It does so by 
ensuring that the public feedback of the majority isn't obstructed by a 
few extreme dissenters.
  This disastrous Ninth Circuit Cottonwood ruling must also be 
addressed because it imposed unnecessary paperwork that even the Obama 
administration has said had the ``potential to cripple'' Federal land 
management without conservation benefit.
  My amendments would address this excessive redtape while continuing 
to ensure that robust, science-driven environmental review and public 
engagement would remain. Many similar provisions are found in the House 
bill as well.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the inclusion of these 
amendments as we work together now, with the House, in a conference of 
the final farm bill.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.

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