On the recordJune 16, 2011
I thank the ranking member very much for yielding. I thank the chairman for his comments, but I think there has been a little bit of confusion, and I just want to clear this up. This speaks specifically to a contract that the USDA has already entered into, and essentially it is just looking at that one piece of that contract that says all data must be stored in the United States and codifying that to say that that part cannot be changed. This is one contract that has already been signed. It is not speaking to anything else in the future. But I think that it is important for security that I think this is a good move that the USDA made. So I just want to speak to that in this amendment specifically, and it is not in any way tying the hands of the USDA or any other agency in the future. I would hope that the other agencies, USDA and other agencies, follow this lead in the future because I think it is good for the United States. But it doesn't any further tie the hands of the USDA. I just wanted to clear that up.
