Tom Latham: “reclaiming my time, one very important priority is the completion of the animal health facility at Ames, Iowa, and this…”

“reclaiming my time, one very important priority is the completion of the animal health facility at Ames, Iowa, and this $58.8 million will complete that $462 million project. And it is so important for human health, animal health, food safety. I just want to thank the committee chairman and the ranking member for their support. I rise in support of this conference report, and encourage the members of the House to do the same, as this is a well-balanced measure. In a climate of tight allocations, the chairman has done an outstanding job of ensuring that sufficient resources are available for the broad range of programs that are funded under this bill. Congresswoman DeLauro has proved to be an excellent ranking member. And, I want to commend the committee staffs on both sides; once again, they have done a fine job under difficult circumstances. Like many Members from rural America, I wish we could have applied higher funding levels in this bill. However, given our budget constraints, I am generally pleased with the funding levels provided. This year, the other body finally saw the light and agreed to final funding for the National Animal Disease Center Modernization Project. This funding will give the Department of Agriculture a world-class facility, with a broad range of animal disease research capabilities. For renewable energy--another important sector to our part of the country and to the agriculture economy--the bill provides 23 million dollars.…”