Chellie Pingree: “I thank the chair of the Rules Committee for yielding me the time, and I thank his fellow committee members for the hard…”

“I thank the chair of the Rules Committee for yielding me the time, and I thank his fellow committee members for the hard work that they do and their staff putting in so many long hours around this appropriations process. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the rule for H.R. 3055. I would like to focus my remarks on the fiscal year 2020 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. This bill includes robust funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations, two Federal agencies that touch the life of every single American. I am proud to serve on the subcommittee that oversees this bill, and I am grateful to Chairman Bishop and Ranking Member Fortenberry for working together to come up with a bipartisan bill that supports the diversity of American agriculture. As an example of the growing diversity of growing techniques that are used by American farmers, in Maine, organic food sales increased 39 percent between 2012 and 2017. Producing food free of toxic chemicals is better for the health of consumers, for the farmers, and for our environment. This bill supports growing markets, including organic and locally grown food, by increasing the funding for the National Organic Program to $18 million and providing $23.4 million for the Local Agriculture Market Program.…”