Kevin Roberts: “I thank my colleague for her remarks and associate myself with those remarks. I rise today as the Senate considers the…”

“I thank my colleague for her remarks and associate myself with those remarks. I rise today as the Senate considers the conference report on an issue that is critically important to our Nation--the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the farm bill. The goal, the responsibility, the absolute requirement is to provide farmers, ranchers, growers, and everyone within America's agriculture and food value chain certainty and predictability during these very difficult times. This conference agreement includes policy improvements from both the House-passed bill and the Senate bill, which passed this body with a strong bipartisan vote of 86 to 11. We have worked to maintain as many priorities for as many Members as possible. This farm bill meets the needs of producers across all regions and all crops. It ensures that our voluntary conservation programs are keeping farmland in operation while protecting our agriculture lands, our forests, and other natural resources. The bill focuses on program integrity--program integrity, and commonsense investments to strengthen our nutrition programs to ensure the long-term success of those in need of assistance. With trade and market uncertainty, to say the least, it provides certainty for our trade promotion and research programs. Feeding an increasing global population is not simply an agriculture challenge; it is a national security challenge. This means we need to grow more, raise more with fewer resources.…”