[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14492]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               STAND UP FOR CALIFORNIA'S ALMOND INDUSTRY

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, the California almond industry has 
shouldered the brunt of the drought finger-pointing over the last year.
  The reality is that almond trees use about the same, if not less, the 
amount of water of any fruit or nut in the State of California.
  It is like the old story of the frog in the pot of boiling water. If 
the pot has no water, then you have no frog nor agriculture in 
California. We need to build water storage. That said, our almond 
industry employs over 100,000 people and brings in $21 billion to the 
State each year.
  In addition to being scapegoats on water, they also face a potential 
$4 billion loss if the European Union chooses not to extend the maximum 
residue levels allowed on fosetyl-aluminum. This chemical is not even 
used in almonds and poses no health risk. Inaction to extend this MRL 
will prevent almonds from being exported into the EU, depressing prices 
worldwide.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask Secretary Vilsack and the USDA to 
stand up for California and our agriculture and help obtain this 
critical extension.

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