Dale Bumpers: “I do want to say a few things that I have said in the committee and I have said in speeches in the last couple months…”

“I do want to say a few things that I have said in the committee and I have said in speeches in the last couple months regarding what I believe is a serious lack of funding for research in the area of agriculture. We have provided well over $1 billion in this bill for agriculture research, but it pales by comparison. And in spite of that commitment, I think I have a commitment to express my concern about the comparatively small amounts we provide for agriculture research. We live in a world with an ever-growing population. We live in a nation with an ever-increasing demand on our natural resources, including the conversion of arable land for urban growth, for highways, and shopping centers. We live in a world where our very survival is premised on our ability to produce more food with fewer inputs on fewer acres and with fewer risks to public health and the environment. In the face of all these challenges, it is inconceivable that we would not place a much higher premium on investments in the research vital to human survival, simply put, the research of how we are going to feed ourselves.”