[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 159 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E909-E910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 26, 2023

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4368, the 
Republican FY24 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug 
Administration, and Related Agencies Act.
  Less than one week before the government is set to shut down, House 
Republicans brought forward a slate of funding bills that have no 
chance of passing the Senate or being signed into law by President 
Biden. With this bill, Republicans have doubled down on their cuts to 
the critical rural programs America's farmers rely on. The bill was so 
extreme

[[Page E910]]

that nearly 30 Republicans voted against it when it failed to pass the 
House Thursday evening by a vote of 191-237.
  In July, Republicans passed out of the Appropriations Committee an 
Agriculture appropriations bill that provides just $17.2 billion--a 
funding level so low, it was last seen in 2007--and $9 billion below 
what was provided in 2023. It slashes loans that provide support for 
distressed farmers and funds for rural electric cooperatives. It 
underfunds direct loans for water and waste removal, money that ensures 
rural Americans have access to clean drinking water, and cuts the cash 
value voucher in the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC), 
undermining more than 100,000 Minnesotans' access to nutrition 
assistance.
  But Mr. Chair, it seems as though the bill passed out of the 
Appropriations Committee didn't go far enough. With the passage of the 
rule on Tuesday, an additional 14.15 percent across-the-board cut was 
implemented on every program contained within this bill. In addition, 
another $1.2 billion was cut from the vital Food for Peace Program, a 
program that ensures people around the world have access to nutritious 
surplus food grown by America's farmers.
  This bill also contains harmful and partisan policy riders meant to 
appease the most extreme right-wing members of the Republican Caucus. 
The bill reverses a decision by the FDA to allow mifepristone to be 
dispensed in certified pharmacies to patients with a certified 
prescriber, instead of only in hospitals, clinics, and medical offices. 
Mifepristone has been safely used by more than 5 million women over the 
last two decades for safe and effective medication abortion. Congress 
acting to overturn a science-based decision by the Food and Drug 
Administration is yet another attempt by the majority to limit women's 
access to reproductive health care.
  Mr. Chair, this bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. Instead of 
using this final week of Fiscal Year 2023 passing bills that will never 
become law, House Republican leadership should have focused on keeping 
the government open for the American people.

                          ____________________