[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 162 (Monday, September 20, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H4545-H4546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    FAIR TREATMENT OF LOCAL FARMERS

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)

[[Page H4546]]

  

  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight in support of the Biden 
administration's new guidance regarding the Packers and Stockyards Act, 
and heartened that the administration took swift and decisive action to 
protect small farmers and local producers. Too often, local farmers 
suffer economically at the expense of large integrators that practice 
oppressive tactics in the marketplace and thwart the ability of small 
producers to flourish.
  The COVID-19 pandemic exposed great frailties in our food supply 
chains. And while Americans are paying higher prices, 14 percent on 
beef, 12 percent on pork, and 6.6 percent on poultry, the country's top 
four largest meat processors have increasingly gained the lion's share 
of the market since the 1970s. They control the entire market, the 
largest producers.
  Meanwhile, poultry giants Tysons and Purdue recently settled a $35 
million lawsuit in which local contract growers cited the combination 
of low wages and the financial demands of compliance with the 
companies' barn standards that unjustly pushed them into a debtor's 
prison.
  The action taken by the administration will help smaller farmers 
stand strong, achieve fair contracts, and come forward to speak their 
truth, without the fear and threat of retaliation.
  Congratulations to the Biden administration for doing something that 
is fair and just.

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