On the recordMarch 31, 2022
This is a great honor to be able to speak about the great people that feed our country. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent the farmers that feed the world. With less than 1 percent of our Nation's farmland, the Central Valley supplies a quarter of our Nation's food. Our well-deserved reputation as America's breadbasket comes from the help of nature and a whole lot of hard work and skill from our farmers, ranchers, and producers. But without water, we cannot grow our Nation's food at all. Our Central Valley farming community has endured drought conditions and low water allocations for years. At a time when even the President is warning about global food shortages, we need to be supporting our agriculture producers here at home. That includes making sure that the Central Valley has the water they need to continue providing food for the world. We must fix complex and contradictory laws, court decisions, and regulations, and improve water storage infrastructure to bring more water to the Valley. The livelihoods of my constituents and our global food supply depend on it.
