Angie Craig: “I have brought an amendment to the floor today that has been worked on for a long period of time in a bipartisan way…”

“I have brought an amendment to the floor today that has been worked on for a long period of time in a bipartisan way, Democrats and Republicans, VA-HUD subcommittee, Senate Agriculture Committee, and others, to deal with pesticide registration and the fees of that registration. For the last several years, the VA-HUD appropriations bill has, on an analyzed basis, advanced these fees automatically. We have done it through the appropriating process. The administration basically said let's resolve this issue. A broad coalition of environmental organizations and chemical companies basically came together in the past several months to reach consensus on a permanent pesticide fees package. Through several long hours, an agreement was reached late this summer through a truly bipartisan effort that produced identical legislation in both the Senate amendment I have just sent forward with the 20-plus cosponsors and House H.R. 3188. So the House and Senate are now working in tandem on this issue. The package includes a unique cross section of support from industry, labor, farmers, and the environmental community.”