Mike Conaway: “I thank Mr. Newhouse for his commitment to ensuring that American farmers and ranchers maintain the tools necessary to…”

“I thank Mr. Newhouse for his commitment to ensuring that American farmers and ranchers maintain the tools necessary to remain competitive on the global stage. As you well know, trade is of immense importance to the agricultural industry, with U.S. agricultural exports estimated at $140 billion per year and trade accounting for one of every $5 of agricultural production value. Through its extensive farm bill hearing series and listening sessions, the committee heard from every segment of the agricultural industry about the importance of maintaining support for our trade promotion and our market development programs, especially considering the uncertainty in the current trade climate. While I am confident that America's farmers and ranchers are incredibly efficient and can compete with anyone in the world on a level playing field, they simply cannot be expected to compete against foreign treasuries on their own. So in addition to maintaining and strengthening the farm safety net, H.R. 2 restores and increases funding for the popular and successful Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program. This was no small feat, considering the CBO zeroed out funding for FMD as well as the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops Program in its most recent baseline projections. But the committee worked together to get creative and make it happen.…”