Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in very strong opposition to this amendment. Cutting funding for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture by an additional 17 percent is penny-wise and pound-foolish. The bill already guts funding for USDA, but the NIFA, the National Institute for Food and Agriculture provides grants for research to our colleges and universities, and particularly the 1890s institutions that were created under the Second Morrill Act. This is a very useful agency. It provides essential research, the tool that keeps American agriculture on the cutting edge. In America, we produce the safest, the highest quality of food and fiber anywhere in the industrialized world, and we do it because we fund research. Our research is cutting edge. Why would we cut it by 17 percent? We need research like we never needed it before because of the climate challenges that we are facing. We have got challenges that we must overcome in order to continue to produce the food to feed the people in this country and around the world. This research is essential, and we need to continue to fund it. We don't need this 17 percent cut. I urge the defeat of this amendment. Let's defeat this amendment, and let's pass a useful bill that is responsible that meets the needs of the American people and the American producers. Mr. Chair, I urge that this amendment be defeated, and I yield back the balance of my time.”