[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2180]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE FARM BILL CONFERENCE REPORT

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. We are not going to let Trudi get off that easy because 
she is going to have to listen to some 1-minute speeches.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the farm bill conference report. As 
Illinois farmers look forward to spring planting season, this bill 
provides them with a stronger crop insurance program and gives them a 
choice of commodity programs that work best for their farm.
  It takes important steps to end direct payments, streamline 
conservation programs, close food stamp loopholes, and save $24 billion 
over the next decade.
  However, one issue the bill does not address is Country of Origin 
Labeling, or COOL. Current COOL regulations could potentially put 
American livestock producers in violation of our trade obligations and 
could put the U.S. meat under retaliatory tariffs from Canada and 
Mexico.
  The WTO announced just last week that they will be holding hearings 
on this issue. I have been told by the leadership of the House, who had 
this provision in the House part of the bill, that the bill would be 
filed, hearings will be conducted, and we will move legislation to 
address this concern.
  I want to thank Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member Peterson for all 
the hard work that the Ag Committee has done to provide Illinois 
farmers certainty.

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