Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Desert Locust Control Act, and I thank Mr. Smith for bringing forward this very important legislation. In late 2019, swarms of locusts entered the Horn of Africa from the Gulf of Aden, multiplying and spreading throughout the region. Locusts are highly mobile and can consume vast amounts of vegetation in a short period of time. Even a small swarm can consume crops that would feed up to 35,000 people in day. They have devastated large swaths of farmland through east Africa, including Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia and across the Red Sea in Yemen. Food security is already hanging by a thread in these regions, and efforts to control the locusts have been hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of reliable data, and the geographical reach of the swarm across multiple countries. The Desert Locust Control Act would step up coordination of efforts to evaluate and respond to the locust outbreak across the United States Government, bringing in the support of the U.S. mission to the Food and Agricultural Organization, USAID, and others to effectively respond to the outbreak. We have already seen the ripple effects of the coronavirus pandemic on poverty, food insecurity, health, and education. We must ensure that we do not let this locust plague compound those challenges. I, again, thank Mr. Smith for his leadership in authoring this measure.…”