Jim McGovern

The hypocrisy of this Administration knows no bounds, and a prime example is your shifting positions on the ideal farm size in less than a decade.

In the last 8 years, you seem to have forgotten that the small number of producers you now demonize are responsible for 80 percent of the production.

Every one of us that is not a farmer is not a farmer because we have farmers.

Here is the problem. Reference prices help a subset of farmers.

My friends complain about the cost of groceries at the supermarket, and yet they are advocating policies that will make it more difficult for people to be able to afford those groceries.

They want you to focus on helping struggling families instead to be able to put nutritious food on the table.

Your majority has been ineffective, and what you are doing and what you are advocating is highly unpopular.

The bottom line is the benefit, let's be honest, is inadequate.

My Republican friends complain about the cost of some of these programs. They don't talk about the savings and avoidable healthcare costs that result by investing in these nutrition programs.

We can support our farmers and hungry families at the same time. This is not an either/or situation.

I don't think it is a radical idea to want a farm bill that supports small- and medium-sized farms, that supports conservation.

We want to see our bipartisan priorities funded.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not going to result in an effective farm bill.

We will not cut SNAP.

I continue to implore my Democratic colleagues to think, in earnest, about those priorities, priorities that can be funded without cutting a SNAP benefit or eliminating the important conservation programs we have all come to appreciate.

Therefore, I urge you to also include improvements to the following important themes: Research--Ensure the district, state, and country continue to conduct world class agriculture and natural resources research addressing pressing needs.

As their Representative, over the last year, I have been hosting listening sessions throughout my district to hear directly from farmers, producers, researchers, nutrition advocates, land managers, firefighters, and other critical…

We urge the Committee to oppose efforts to cut funding, redirect funding, or otherwise undermine critical Title II programs and technical assistance within the USDA.

It is of the utmost importance that the next farm bill ensures the nearly $20 billion provided in the Inflation Reduction Act is used for its intended purpose.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nutritious food to nearly five million Californians.

It is critical that California has a seat at the table as we work to reauthorize the farm bill.

Food security is a national security issue, and nothing has shed a light on this more than what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's ridiculous. We have EPA standards on a combine that's a fire hazard that we apply to big trucks, but they shouldn't be applying them to emissions because this is a national security issue.

We have unreasonable regulations created by the government and USDA related to the Waters of USA.

We should have a serious conversation in the farm bill about what we can do to increase competition and innovation because ingenuity of our businesses and Americans will bring the best outcomes for all of us.