Mike Conaway: “We all have deep concerns about hunger in America and hunger around the world, and every effort to abate that is worthy…”

“We all have deep concerns about hunger in America and hunger around the world, and every effort to abate that is worthy; however, I must oppose this amendment. One of our efforts at the committee, over the last several years, is to look for duplicative processes, duplicative programs to eliminate. Reducing this duplication in these agencies has been a major priority for the committee over the last 2\1/2\ years, and we've held audits for implementing agencies, field hearings across the countryside and hearings here in Washington to receive stakeholder input on the effectiveness and, more importantly, the inefficiencies of programs within our jurisdiction. {time} 1750 While I support providing access to healthy foods for low-income communities, I believe that our base bill makes significant strides in addressing these concerns, both the inefficiencies as well as the effectiveness of the programs. What is even more concerning than authorizing this duplicative program is the offset that is used to pay for more government redundancy. Exports are vital to the U.S. agricultural economy. Nearly one-third of our agricultural sales come from exports. In the last 25 years, the Market Access Program has proven to be highly successful in helping to boost U.S. agricultural exports, expanding jobs and increasing rural income. The amount of money sought is about $20 million a year over the 5- year program for a total of $100 million.…”