Tom Latham: “I rise to commend the Agriculture Sub- committee Chairwoman, Ms. DeLauro, and the ranking Republican, Mr. Kingston. They…”

“I rise to commend the Agriculture Sub- committee Chairwoman, Ms. DeLauro, and the ranking Republican, Mr. Kingston. They have done a commendable job in putting this measure together in this first year in their respective positions. All along the way, Ms. DeLauro reached across the aisle to sound out the concern of the members on this side of the aisle--and the work product shows her bi-partisan efforts. While I do not agree with everything in the bill, I think it is a good product, all things considered. I especially want to thank the Chairwoman for her efforts to increase funding in the bill for the cooperative State research, education and extension service. The CSREES funding level was below the level where it should have been coming out of the subcommittee. After hearing the concerns of many members, Ms. DeLauro and Mr. Kingston closed ranks and fixed the problem. That funding gap was a particular issue to many members, especially those from rural, farming areas. I am pleased to note that the bill contains much in the way of agriculture research funding in a number of areas. This is important to many areas, particularly renewable fuels and food production science, to name two areas. The more we can make substantive progress in both of these areas, the better for the consumer and the farm community. I do want to point out a couple of areas where I think we can and should improve on the bill.…”