National Peanut Festivil

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. JONES. Madam President, it is not often in floor remarks we can often hit a trifecta on topics that are uniquely connected, but I am fortunate enough to have that privilege today. They all center around the glorious peanut. I want to honor the National Peanut Festival currently being held in Dothan, AL, which recognizes the importance of the peanut industry to the State of Alabama and to the United States.

Every year, Dothan hosts the Nation's largest peanut festival to honor local peanut farmers and to celebrate harvest season. The festival began in 1938 and has been held annually each year, except for the years during the hiatus during World War II. This year's festival is a 10-day-long extravaganza with food, fun, and entertainment. You name it, you can find it in Dothan during the peanut festival. It is one of the most popular events in Alabama each year. In 2017, the festival broke attendance records with over 200,000 people joining the fun.

Unfortunately, my schedule has prevented me from being down there this week, but I wish I had been there. I wish I could go for the end of this because it is a glorious time.

Last week, I introduced a resolution here in the Senate to pay tribute to the National Peanut Festival and the importance of peanuts in our State and the entire country. Over 400 million pounds of peanuts are produced every year in Alabama alone, and nearly half of all the peanuts in America are grown within a 100-mile radius of Dothan, AL, where most of those peanuts are processed. It is no wonder that the city of Dothan--down in southeast Alabama, right in the corner, just right on the border of Georgia and Florida--is known as the Peanut Capital of the World.

The peanut industry is a critical part of Alabama's economy. In 2018 alone, the 400 million pounds of peanuts produced by Alabama farmers was valued at $118 million. The farm value of the Nation's peanut crop is over a billion dollars. And like all farmers, peanut farmers have their share of challenges. But year after year, the peanut farmers in Alabama and across the country persevere, providing a crop whose importance is often simply taken for granted--well, as peanuts, as it pertains to our overall economy.

But the peanut is an important staple to the agriculture and food industry, thanks in large part to the amazing and extraordinary work of a scientist, an African-American scientist and adopted son of Alabama, Dr. George Washington Carver, who did his work at one of Alabama's great HBCUs, Tuskegee University.

Dr. Carver was born into slavery, but raised by his former master once slavery was abolished. He was forced to attend segregated schools until 1891, when he was accepted as the first Black student at Iowa State University. Only 5 years later, in 1896, Dr. Carver was hired by the great Booker T. Washington to head the Agriculture Department at Tuskegee Institute, now known as Tuskegee University, in Tuskegee, AL.

At that point, peanuts were not even recognized as a crop in the United States, but because of a serious threat to the South's cotton crop from boll weevil infestations, Dr. Carver suggested that Alabama farmers start growing peanuts in the alternate years, which he believed would restore and add nutrients to the barren soil so that cotton could grow the next year.

It worked. He not only was a leading voice for crop rotation but ended up inventing over 300 products made out of peanuts, including peanut milk, peanut paper, and peanut soap--although, surprisingly, he did not invent my favorite, peanut butter, but 300 different types of products made from peanuts.

In 1921, in a highly unusual circumstance in the era of Jim Crow, Dr. Carver testified regarding the value of peanuts before the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives--an African- American scientist in front of the U.S. House in 1921. In 1938, again during the Jim Crow era in Alabama, Dr. Carver was the featured speaker at the first peanut festival in Dothan, AL.

Peanuts became more and more popular, and by 1940, they had become one of the top six crops in the United States--all in large part due to the work of Dr. Carver at Tuskegee University. It is not an overstatement to say that Dr. Carver, Tuskegee University, and the peanut helped save the economy of the South.

This is just one example of the extraordinary contributions that HBCUs have made to our country over the years and continue to make today. But, as we have talked about for some time, including with my friend Senator Cardin earlier today, those contributions are threatened because of the expiration of Federal funding that occurred at the end of September.

I have been pushing for the passage of my bill, the FUTURE Act, which would renew funding for HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions that expired at the end of September. We need to continue to invest in these institutions and ensure they have consistent funding.

We have worked with this bill, the FUTURE Act, to make sure the concerns of others--particularly those who might object to the UC we have asked for on the FUTURE Act--to make sure that this is not some Federal budget gimmick. We have answered those concerns. We have answered all the pay-for concerns. All we are asking for is consistent funding because now planning is as important as the money. Yes, the Department of Education has told HBCUs that the funding would be there through September, but by this spring, those institutions have to plan. They have to start making sure they have the necessary resources for the fall and beyond. If their funding is set to expire at the end of next year, they cannot make those plans, both with teachers and their infrastructure.

We need to continue to make sure those HBCUs are funded consistently and appropriately. Let's make sure we put aside any differences and make sure those funds are available so that our great HBCUs and minority-serving institutions across the country can continue to operate and plan.

We need to honor the legacy of Dr. Carver, which is one of the reasons I was so proud to introduce a resolution honoring the National Peanut Festival and the peanut industry in the State of Alabama. It is a testament to the importance of the peanut and a time to celebrate its history, our State, and the peanut farming way of life.

I am hopeful that with the advancements of peanut allergy research, we can make sure more people have the ability to enjoy what so many of us can. I understand that peanut allergies are a real problem around the country and around the world for a lot of people. But advances in research that is going on right now--right now--can make sure we break through and that all who want to can enjoy the value and the taste of those wonderful peanuts. I am not going to go through specifics. I could name all manner of products. I won't do that here today, but I thank you for this opportunity.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source