Jeff Fortenberry: “I thank the ranking member for yielding. I also add my thanks to my good friend, Chair Lowey, upon her retirement from…”

“I thank the ranking member for yielding. I also add my thanks to my good friend, Chair Lowey, upon her retirement from Congress. Thank you so much for your grace-filled leadership all these years. I am very happy for you in this new phase of life. Also, Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Agricultural, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee publicly here, Chair Sanford Bishop. He has such a professionalism and courtesy and a working, friendly bipartisan spirit. I really think it is important that America hears that. Mr. Speaker, this bill underwrites the stabilization policies for our farmers and ranchers, the protection of our drug supply, and what I call the farm of the future. Now, these elongated deliberations have created extra time for us here in Congress. I know you would probably prefer to be in Maryland. I certainly would prefer to be in Nebraska. But we have had important work to do here. Given the extra amount of time, I took some liberties and I visited with a young farmer near here, Mr. Speaker. He lives in the Shenandoah Valley. And on a cold Virginia night, I actually sanitized my own shoes and walked with him in his poultry house, and we talked. We talked about costs, fertilizer reuse, mechanical versus digital monitors, and options for integrating renewable energy into his operations. Checking his birds is a routine he dutifully performs.…”