Political Quotes

“I rise today to introduce the Coffee Plant Health Initiative Amendments Act, a bill that allows the Secretary of Agriculture to provide research and extension grants for the purposes of protecting coffee plants from outside threats such as invasive pests and weeds. Coffee serves as a cornerstone of Hawaii's agricultural industry, both in terms of culture and economics. Coffee has been grown in Hawaii for almost 200 years and is revered all over the world for exceptional quality and taste. Coffee is grown on every main island in Hawaii, with half of the acreage on Hawaii Island and the other half spread across Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. Hawaii remains the largest grower of coffee in the United States, with over 27 million pounds produced and yielding just over $54 million during the 2019-2020 season. Like all natural ecosystems in Hawaii, coffee production has experienced numerous threats from pests and weeds. These include the black twig borer, root-knot nematode, green scale, crab spider, coffee berry borer, and coffee leaf rust, to name a few. In response to the 2010 arrival of the coffee berry borer in Hawaii, I successfully included the coffee plant health initiative provision in the 2014 farm bill. This provision allowed the Secretary of Agriculture to provide research and extension grants to help the coffee community combat the coffee berry borer.…”