Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak about Amendment 1088, which I introduced with Senator Jones. The amendment is straightforward. It provides $5 million to fund Centers of Excellence at 1890 land-grant universities. This amendment--I want to underscore this--includes an offset. Let me tell you why I introduced this. The authorization for these Centers of Excellence was included in the 2018 farm bill. I offered it as an amendment in the Senate Agriculture Committee. It could be critical for schools like Central State, west of Columbus, in Ohio. The chairman and the ranking member of the Ag Committee supported it. The Senate majority leader supported it, as did the chair of the Ag Appropriations Subcommittee. The entire committee supported it. It passed by a voice vote. Then we passed the farm bill and sent it to the President. We got 87 votes from this body for the farm bill. That is more than ever, I believe, any farm bill has ever passed the Senate. These centers will focus on important challenges facing the agriculture sector and its workforce. I ask unanimous consent that the letter of support from Dr. Kent Smith, president of Langston University in Oklahoma on behalf of the Council of 1890 University Presidents, be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities, Washington, DC, October 29, 2019. Hon. Richard Shelby, Chairman, U.S.…”