On the recordMay 16, 2018
We have lost 44 million acres of farmland during the past 30 years. Mr. Chairman, passage of this farm bill is absolutely critical to the livelihood and success of our farm families and food supply. I encourage and hope that every one of us will vote for this bill. This farm bill strengthens the farm safety net while making other vital improvements to current law that will benefit our farm families, rural communities, and animal agriculture sector--such as the establishment of a new U.S.-only vaccine bank to prevent Foot-and-Mouth disease, authorizing $1.1 billion to provide broadband service to harder-to-serve rural areas, and providing the Secretary of Agriculture with tools necessary to help combat the ongoing opioid crises which is hitting rural America especially hard. Additionally, this farm bill makes common sense changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to encourage work and provide for job training. The vast majority of Americans would agree that if you work you should be better off than if you don't work. Under this bill, we simply ask that those who are of working age and are perfectly capable, work 20 hours a week. And, if one can't find work we will pay for their job training so that everyone can attain the skills necessary to get the job they want. The unfortunate reality is that we have too many SNAP recipients stuck in the program with no pathway to upward mobility. Why?…





