Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the administration's decision to pause or end--or as the unelected billionaire Elon Musk said: ``Feed into the wood chipper''--government payments for food aid. The thoughtless plan to shut down or pause the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, is wrong for many reasons. It is especially harmful to people around the globe who can starve without this food aid, and it is harmful to the U.S. businesses and American farmers who sell their agricultural products to the U.S. Government. In 2020, the U.S. Government bought more than $2 billion in food aid from American farmers, but right now, because of this wrong decision by the administration, there is about 500,000 tons of food, including rice, wheat, and soybeans, at risk of spoiling. Much of it is stockpiled in ports across the country, including about 31,000 tons of food at the port in Houston, Texas, alone. What a truly senseless waste and shameful considering how many people around the globe are food insecure. My home State of Oregon has a robust agricultural sector. We produce wheat, potatoes, and amazing specialty crops. We export more than 80 percent of our wheat production from Oregon. The administration's egregious decision has been really harmful, and it is also harmful to national security. This is a national security issue.…”