[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 10, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2709-S2711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Agriculture

  Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, this is the 250th anniversary year of 
the founding of the United States of America--the greatest Nation the 
world has ever seen. Agriculture has been a part of this country since 
our founding, and agriculture is the heart and soul of what we do in 
Nebraska. We must always work to support our farmers and ranchers. It 
is a privilege for me to be able to do so as a Senator from the great 
State of Nebraska.
  However, these are tough times in our industry of agriculture. We 
have seen widespread drought and wildfires. We have seen commodity 
prices in corn and soybeans be depressed and input prices be high. This 
puts a lot of pressure on our farming families.
  We, also, as recently as in the last day or so, have seen more 
wildfires in the State of Nebraska, in the northwest portion of our 
State, around Chadron and Fort Robinson. Our Governor is taking the 
appropriate action to be able to help fight these fires. But it is in 
very rugged terrain, and it is going to be difficult for our 
firefighters there. So I ask that all Nebraskans and Americans keep the 
firefighters and all of those who have been impacted by these fires in 
their thoughts and prayers as we go through it.
  One of the other challenges we are now facing in agriculture has to 
do with one of the bright spots in our industry, and that is the beef 
industry. Now, the beef industry is the No. 1 industry in the State of 
Nebraska--we are the beef State--but this industry is being threatened 
by the New World screwworm. This is a parasite that we had wiped out 
back in the 1960s and that is now making a reappearance. In fact, we 
have had six confirmed cases--five in Texas and one in New Mexico. They 
are in livestock, but in the case in New Mexico, it actually involves a 
dog. This is why Mexico is taking the steps to prevent all livestock 
from coming across the border, including pet dogs. It is to prevent the 
spread of the New World screwworm.
  Today, I am sending a letter to our Ag Secretary, Brooke Rollins, to 
encourage her to continue to expedite the steps we are taking to combat 
the New World screwworm. The way we do that is by producing sterile 
flies that ultimately then wipe out the population here in this 
country, like we did before.
  Panama has the only facility in North America right now that is 
capable of producing these sterile flies, while Mexico is set to have a 
facility come online later this summer. Panama is producing about 100 
million screwworm sterile flies right now, and Mexico is distributing 
those. The USDA is distributing about 8 million a week in the affected 
areas of Texas right now. So we are trying to combat that right now. 
The USDA is also investing another $750 million in a facility at Moore 
Air Force Base, near Edinburg, TX, so that, when it comes along, it 
will be able to produce about 300 million screwworm flies a week to be 
able to help combat this.
  With the roughly 100 million a week that are being distributed right 
now, we are working on it. But to get there, we need to have more. This 
is where the USDA's investment is so critical to be able to help combat 
this. I appreciate the work that Secretary Rollins and the USDA are 
doing. I encourage them to continue to expedite this so we can combat 
this disease.
  I would also point out that all of these investments are in addition 
to what the Senate Republicans did in the Working Families Tax Cut last 
year, wherein we added to the programs with regard to animal 
biosecurity and parasite mitigation. We actually were able to add about 
$233 million a year to the USDA's budget in three different programs, 
which is seven times the level of funding that was being done before--
again, all of this to help make sure we continue to protect our strong 
agricultural industry in the United States. Of course, as I always 
remind people, food security is national security.
  In addition, one of the things that we have been able to do is to 
have Secretary Rollins and Under Secretary Fordyce come to Nebraska to 
see the damage that was done by the previous wildfires. The previous 
wildfires burned about a million acres in Nebraska and displaced tens 
of thousands of cattle--sadly, costing the life of one Nebraskan who 
was caught in that fire.
  One of the things farmers and ranchers have told us is that they need 
to have flexibility and not regulatory redtape when it comes to this 
recovery. I am happy to report that the USDA is

[[Page S2710]]

working with farmers and ranchers to provide that flexibility. One of 
the areas, for example, is that a lot of fencing was destroyed, and the 
USDA is giving us the flexibility to be able to replace that fencing 
with different sizes of fences.

  As for the regulations, again, somebody had some reason for them in 
the past, but they required that you had to replace the fencing with 
the exact same post fence. And that is not all available, given the 
widespread damage. So we are getting some flexibility to replace it 
with different sized fencing.
  I also introduced, this week, the FENCE Act--the Fencing Eligibility 
for New Conservation Equipment Act--for our farmers and ranchers to be 
able to replace the fencing that they have lost with electronic 
fencing. We have collars, for example, to fit cattle with so that they 
can have virtual fencing. The FENCE Act would be able to get dollars 
from the Emergency Conservation Program so that another tool will be 
available for our farmers and ranchers to be able to recover from these 
fires.
  In addition, I also want to credit Fish and Wildlife and the USDA for 
working to open up the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge for grazing, 
as well to be able to help our ranchers out from that standpoint.
  So there is a lot of work going on to help our farmers and ranchers 
recover from these terrible fires.
  In addition, in the Working Families Tax Cut, I mentioned the money 
that we are putting toward biosecurity. We also made a number of great 
improvements for agriculture.
  We were able to make the death tax exemption permanent. That is 
important to allow for farmers and ranchers to be able to pass on the 
family farm and ranch to the next generation. It is one of the reasons 
I say that our farmers and ranchers are the original conservationists. 
It is because they want to pass along that family farm or ranch to the 
next generation so that they will take care of their land and their 
animals. But the death tax could get in the way of being able to do 
that. By making that death tax exemption permanent, we are assisting 
farmers and ranchers in being able to pass along that ranch. About $200 
billion in farm and ranch assets will now go to the next generation of 
farmers and ranchers and not to the government. This will assist them, 
and that was all done in the Working Families Tax Cut.
  We were also able to update reference pricing for things like corn 
and soybeans, especially given the tough time. For our row crops there, 
this is especially important. But we were able to update that reference 
pricing for the first time in 11 years. That was an important thing we 
got done in the Working Families Tax Cut.
  We were able to renew the 45Z renewable fuel tax credit. Renewable 
fuels are a win-win-win situation. Consumers save money at the pump. 
The last time I filled up, it was with a 10-percent blend of ethanol at 
my local grocery store, and I saved 55 cents a gallon. It helps clean 
up the environment, and it is also good for our farmers and ranchers. 
So promoting renewable fuels is something we want to continue to do, 
and we were able to renew that 45Z tax credit to be able to encourage 
companies to invest in renewable fuels.
  We were also able to double the amount of money for trade promotion. 
In Nebraska, about a third of everything that we grow and we raise goes 
overseas. We are the largest beef exporting State, for example. So we 
want to have more trade relationships. We doubled the amount of money 
for programs like our Foreign Market Development and the Market Access 
Programs with an initial $285 million to be able to open up those trade 
opportunities in markets around the world to be able to help our 
farmers and ranchers.
  We also doubled the program for our new farmer and rancher program, 
from 5 years to 10 years, to be able to help out those new producers 
coming into the industry to be able to take advantage of some of the 
benefits in that program and to give them a leg up as they start their 
careers in agriculture.
  These were all great things that we did in the Working Families Tax 
Cut, and there are actually many, many more things that we did for 
agriculture in there.
  Having said that, we still need to get a 5-year farm bill. Our 
current farm bill authorizations run out on September 30. We have been 
living on extensions. Our farmers and ranchers deserve the certainty of 
a 5-year farm bill. I am pleased to report that the House has passed 
their version of the farm bill. It includes some of my priorities--
priorities around things such as rural microentrepreneurship and flood 
resiliency. There is my AFIDA Improvements Act, which would help us 
deter communist China from buying farmland around our sensitive 
military installations, like at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North 
Dakota and Fort Bragg in North Carolina. So we need to get a 5-year 
farm bill done.
  My esteemed colleague from Arkansas, who is the chair of the Ag 
Committee, has been in Nebraska to hear directly from farmers and 
ranchers about our priorities for the farm bill, and I know he is 
working diligently to be able to get that farm bill passed, as I 
encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do. We must work 
to find common ground and get this passed.
  Again, this is not only about making sure that our farmers and 
ranchers have that certainty of a 5-year farm bill. It is that food 
security is national security. This is a national security issue as 
well. So it is very important that we get that done.
  Also, in the farm bill, I would like to see one of my priorities with 
regard to fair labels. One of the things that we have seen is that 
products are being put on the market that market themselves as one 
thing but are not really. My FAIR Labels Act would address this 
specifically with regard to meat. We don't want something that is grown 
in a petri dish or something that is actually a plant to be labeled as 
meat or beef. Consumers should know exactly what they are consuming, 
and so my FAIR Labels Act would require that if you are real beef or 
real pork or real chicken, you can say that on the label. But if you 
are not, if you are a plant-based product, if you were cultured in a 
lab, you cannot claim that title of being meat.
  This is one of the priorities that would make sure that not only 
would we be properly representing agriculture but consumers would know 
exactly what they are purchasing.
  Also, one of the things that I did when I was Governor of Nebraska is 
have the SNAP Next Step, which is encouraging our families on SNAP to 
be able to get better paying jobs by helping with job coaching, with 
resume writing, things like that. This would be another thing that we 
could add into the farm bill since a lot of the farm bill--most of the 
spending in it, like 80 percent of it--actually has to do with the Food 
Stamp Program, the SNAP program. This would be a great way to be able 
to help those families be able to reduce their dependency.
  When I was Governor, of the families that participated in that, 60 
percent were able to end their need for food stamps and the other 40 
percent reduced their need for food stamps. So that is a great way to 
be able to do it.
  And then, finally, another thing that we can do to be able to help 
agriculture is pass E15 all year-round. Again, Adrian Smith, one of my 
esteemed Congressmen from the State of Nebraska, helped pass this in 
the House. It is now for us in the Senate to be able to pass this.
  And I would point out that we have actually had E15 all year-round 
through emergency waivers from the EPA for the last 8 years. The 
refineries that were worried about this--again, the sky has not fallen. 
I believe that there is an opportunity for us to find common ground to 
be able to get this passed in the Senate.
  This is important, again, for our farmers who would like to have that 
certainty. It would help create demand for our corn, for example. What 
it would do is, by passing a law that says you can use E15 all year-
round, it would give consumers a choice to be able to choose that, and 
we would not have to go to the EPA for that emergency waiver every 
summer.
  It would then give certainty to our marketers to invest in the 
infrastructure to distribute E15. And, once again, this is something 
that can help mitigate high gas prices. I saved 55 cents a gallon just 
on E10; you can save more on E15.

[[Page S2711]]

  So I encourage my Senate colleagues to take a look at this to be able 
to work with my colleagues like my senior Senator from the State of 
Nebraska to be able to find common ground to get this passed.
  We have been doing it by emergency waiver for the last 8 years. It is 
something we continue to do. Let's make it permanent so we get more 
investment in the infrastructure to help give consumers more choice and 
help them reduce their fuel costs at the pump.
  All of this would also help out our farmers and ranchers. Our farmers 
and ranchers are the backbone of Nebraska, and they have been the 
backbone of our country since its founding. We need to continue to 
support our farmers and ranchers. This is very important not only for 
our industry of agriculture but so that we can continue to feed our 
Nation and, indeed, the rest of the world.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Kansas.