Conference Report On H.R. 2997, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food And Drug Administration, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. FARR. I thank the chairwoman for yielding time to me.

I rise in strong support of the Agriculture appropriations conference report. I'm really proud that I think I'm the only member of the committee who sits in the Western United States, where an awful lot of our agriculture in this country comes from. And one of the things I've learned about being on this committee, in the regular authorization committee, is that there is probably no other subject matter that touches every part of the United States as much as the Department of Agriculture. One of the oldest departments in government, essentially touching all the cultures and all of the qualities of rural America.

And in a very urbanized country right now, it's important that we think about rural America because that's the part of America that feeds us and in many cases feeds much of the world. The food and fiber produced in this country is the lifeblood of our Nation. This bill continues the focus on the needs of all Americans, both rural and urban.

Just a few of the things I am very keen on is that I don't think we can stay ahead of the rest of the world in any field unless we commit our best brains and talent to it. The best resources of America are intellectual resources. So you apply those intellectual resources to research, staying ahead of the curve. I am fortunate to represent ``the salad bowl of the United States,'' the Salinas Valley in Monterey County. The production of agriculture there in just one county is about $4 billion, and it's about 85 different crops. And those crops are what we call fresh crops. That means they go from the field to your fork. And we need to make sure we have all the research that's necessary to make those things fresh and safe for you.

I am also keen on this committee because this is the committee that's in charge of putting the funds in for school nutrition programs and all the other kinds of nutrition programs, food stamps and the WIC program, Women, Infants, and Children. And these are the nutrition programs that are so essential to getting the right start and a healthy start not only in the beginning of life but for every day in our schools. And we have a lot of work to do in that area.

I'd also like to thank the chairwoman because she has been very involved in plusing-up the Buildings and Facilities Account in order to advance some of these important construction projects that would allow research to continue. I have a very active agriculture research station in Salinas, and it's leading the way on crop improvement protection.

So I appreciate what both Mr. Kingston and Ms. DeLauro have done in bringing this bill and the conference report to us today, and I would strongly urge that all our Members support this. This is going to appropriate money to keep the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug and safety going for another year with conditions that I think are very meaningful for this year in the United States.

It's a good bill and it deserves support. A lot of hard work went into it, and I thank them for their leadership.

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