Political Quotes

“earlier today, we sat in the Armed Services Committee and heard a $1.5 trillion defense budget request. That is not including the $1 billion a day going to the Iran war. Just imagine what even a fraction of that could do if we invested it in our farmers and in feeding American families. Right now, every part of American agriculture is under strain, and too many families are going hungry. This is not a moment for a skinny farm bill. It is a moment for a serious, bipartisan one. Yet, once again, specialty crop farm producers, the backbone of agriculture in States like Hawaii, are being shortchanged. They got 7 percent of the USDA Farmer Bridge Assistance funding, even though we have specialty crop growers in every single State, every territory, and 95 percent of all counties with farms. Democrats fought to fix that. We pushed for an additional $10 billion in support so these farmers could survive and compete. We were blocked. At the same time, this administration ripped away $660 million that helped get fresh, local food into our schools--literally, taking food out of the mouths of hungry kids and income out of the hands of farmers who grew it. We fought to cancel those cuts, but we were blocked. Let's be clear about the broader context. Tariffs, taxes on our own farmers, have cost them billions and made food more expensive for everyone. That is not support. That is harm. Yes, this bill does harm for what it does and what it does not do.”