Political Quotes

“When most people think of Hawaii, my home State, they immediately think of our beautiful beaches, mountains, vistas, and wonderful people and culture, and they dream about when they might come and visit our home State. This contributes, no doubt, to our tourism industry being the major driver of our economy in Hawaii. But, along with our beautiful year-round climate comes a great opportunity for our agriculture industry. In fact, most people are not aware that agriculture is the third largest industry in our State, accounting for over $2.9 billion of our annual economy and at least 42,000 jobs, according to our State Department of Agriculture. So, like States all across the country, we are working within government and the private sector to diversify and strengthen our economy, specifically our agriculture sector. However, one of the greatest threats that we are seeing in Hawaii and across the country to agriculture are invasive species. The macadamia felted coccid is one of more than 4,300 invasive species that threaten our agriculture industry. In Hawaii alone, the invasive species costs our local farmers, landowners, and ag industry millions of dollars every year and puts hundreds of our local small farms and thousands of local workers and the future of one of our most important crops at risk.…”