[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H337]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                AMERICA'S FUTURE DEPENDS ON AGRICULTURE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Mann) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about my heroes--
America's farmers, ranchers, and agriculture producers. These people 
are my family, my friends, my neighbors, and my ancestors.
  I came to this Congress to defend agriculture because the time I 
spent on the farm with my father, brother, and grandfather growing up 
taught me the most important lessons I have ever learned. Agriculture's 
core values are the same as America's--hard work, self-determination, 
responsibility, creativity, others before self, and prayer.
  Therefore, if America is going to thrive, agriculture must thrive. Of 
all the hardworking, resilient people in our country, agriculture 
producers face more challenges and uncertainty than most of us can 
imagine as they strive to feed, fuel, and clothe our Nation every day.
  A late winter snow in Washington, D.C., means a frustrating commute 
to work. In Kansas--where it is snowing right now--it means essential 
moisture for the soil, better hopes for the spring, profits that might 
let you buy the tractor you have been needing for 2 years now, and if 
there is some money left over, an extra birthday present for your 
daughter in July.
  Kansas' own President Eisenhower said, ``Farming looks mighty easy 
when your plow is a pencil and you are a thousand miles from the corn 
field.'' In Congress, we deal with the laws of our land, and that is 
important, but the farmers are the caretakers of the land itself. 
American farmers built our history, sustain our present, and secure our 
future.
  In the early 1930s, America was suffering from food insecurity. That 
is when Congress woke up, realized that above all other concerns, we 
need to eat to survive, and drafted the first ever farm bill.
  Now, nearly 100 years later, America is the most food-secure country 
in the world because of the strength of our ag producers. So when 
Congress gets the opportunity to reauthorize the farm bill every 5 
years, we need to think carefully and critically about the extent and 
nature of our investment in agriculture because it is an investment in 
both the immediate and the long-term health of our Nation.
  Agriculture is also about freedom. It is extremely difficult for a 
Nation to be free if it relies on another for its food. Therefore, it 
is essential to America's future that we get ag policy right, so we 
never ever have to depend on another for our food or our freedom.
  Over the next several months, as we gear up for the 2023 
reauthorization of the farm bill, I will be standing to share some of 
my thoughts, ideas, and amendments on that legislation.
  On behalf of my constituents and every American farmer, rancher, and 
ag producer, I want to say unequivocally that I will do everything 
within my power to ensure that the 2023 farm bill invests powerfully in 
agriculture. America's future depends on it.

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