Political Quotes

“I come to the floor to talk about supply chain issues because we all know that supply chain issues are plaguing us on a variety of fronts, and Congress needs to act to help consumers, to help our industries, and to make sure that supply chains work very well. I want to start by thanking the Biden administration for their fast action, along with Agricultural Secretary Vilsack, for creating popup space at our ports to make sure that U.S. growers and shippers can get their products to market. We have seen exorbitant rates now charged in shipping; that is, rates that used to be $1,300 a container have now gone up to either $5,000 a container or $11,000 a container, just depending on where you are talking about products being shipped. So agricultural products are being left on the docks because ships are actually returning empty and not taking our products with them. Tomorrow, we will try to address this issue in the Senate Commerce Committee, but for now, as I said, last Friday, the administration announced a very innovative plan to make sure that there was dock space at U.S. ports to make sure that U.S. shipments--agriculture specifically--can be waiting and ready on the docks and get out the door. This is so important because there were industry officials there from the lentil association, from the dairy association--they said they had lost billions last year from the impact of not being able to get their products to market.…”