Rubén Hinojosa: “I want to thank Congressman Mike Thompson from California for joining me on this amendment. Mr. Chairman, my amendment…”

“I want to thank Congressman Mike Thompson from California for joining me on this amendment. Mr. Chairman, my amendment to H.R. 4800 is simple. It would increase funding for the specialty crop pests program at the Department of Agriculture by $2.5 million in order to provide more funding to strongly combat the invasive pests that threaten our agriculture industry. {time} 1515 From the Mediterranean fruit fly, which attacks fruits and nuts throughout California, to the imported fire ant that destroys corn and soybean and okra in Louisiana, the need for this program is higher than it has ever been. Nowhere is this more important than in my own congressional district in south Texas, which is being ravaged by citrus greening. Citrus greening is one of the most destructive plant diseases in the world. Once a citrus tree is infected, it produces bitter, unusable fruit and kills the tree, itself, within a few years. There is no cure, and it has proven to be difficult to eradicate. As a result, over half of the trees in every citrus orchard in Florida have contracted this disease. Right now, both Cameron and Hidalgo Counties, in my district, are under a full emergency quarantine. This is a growing epidemic that threatens to eradicate an entire agricultural industry if we do not do everything we can to stop it.…”