Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Arthur Hughes, a constituent of Georgia's Thirteenth Congressional District, for his efforts to recognize the fathers whose sons or daughters gave their lives in the line of duty. Mr. Hughes' commitment to this goal led to the dedication of highway (State Route 139) as ``Gold Star Fathers Highway''.

We know our Gold Star Families to be the relatives of American service members who made the ultimate sacrifice. The honor of a ``Gold Star'' is given posthumously to honor the service member and uplift their family.

Gold Star Fathers' collective grief and anguish show that our service members do not go into the armed forces alone, but with the support of their loved ones. As a grateful nation, it is imperative that we honor the Gold Star Fathers across the country who contributed so much to support our American heroes.

Since 1936, our nation has set time aside each year to formally recognize and uplift Gold Star Mothers. However, we have not yet codified any observance to include Gold Star Fathers in the same respect. It is to this end that Mr. Hughes seeks to shed light on the fathers of our fallen heroes.

He is not the only Georgian who has undertaken this pursuit. Georgia State Representative Rhonda Burnough has long made increasing the recognition for Gold Star Fathers a cornerstone of her work in the state legislature. It was her diligence that led to formalizing the statewide recognition of Gold Star Fathers on the ninth of November each year.

The unwavering commitment to our service members and their families that these stalwart citizens embody is a selfless form of diligence and service that we should seek to emulate as a nation. It is the bare minimum we can do for those who gave all in service to our great nation. The efforts of these Georgians are commendable to the highest degree.

May God Bless our Armed Forces and may God Bless America.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1170, I call up the bill (H.R. 7606) to establish the Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters within the Department of Agriculture, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 7606.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Schrier), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to clear up something that the gentleman just said. It is very important. The United States Department of Agriculture is the proper source to deal with this investigation. It needs to be investigated per the will of the American people, and there is no agency better equipped, better qualified, to find out what is going wrong.

According to the USDA, the language is clear on the special investigator being a career employee. It only specifies that the position be appointed by the Secretary and based on the qualifications of the individual.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Craig), a member of the House Committee on Agriculture.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Let me clarify something the ranking member said. Yes, I was able to bring in all four CEOs of our meatpacking companies, and we were very grateful that they accepted our invitation. But our ranking member made a mistake. It wasn't all four that said in answer to my question about whether or not they agreed or had any agreement on pricing in our meat industry. Three said no; one said, ``Not to my knowledge.''

Now, you must understand what we are dealing with here and why just that reply from them requires an investigation. That is what we are here for. That is why we did the hearing, to bring those parties in.

We must act, Mr. Speaker. As I said before, we cannot continue to lose 17,000 ranchers and farmers. Also, so many of them, thousands of them, have not made a profit in 5 years. We have a problem.

In a report, the GAO noted that the USDA's investigations were planned and conducted primarily by economists, without the formal involvement of attorneys from USDA's Office of General Counsel, or the OGC. As a result, a legal perspective that focused on assessing potential violations was generally absent when investigations were initiated and conducted. This is precisely why the special investigator bill is so important, because it alleviates an issue that has not had enough scrutiny and ensures that attorneys will be responsible for looking into possible violations.

The GAO also found that the USDA's Packers and Stockyards Act, PSA, investigations had not modernized to keep up with today's complex, competition-related concerns, with consolidation at the heart of this issue, nor had it implemented previous recommendations. It also recommended that GIPSA and USDA's Office of General Counsel work more closely together.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the distinguished chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Spanberger), who is also the chair of our Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), our distinguished Speaker of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Harder), a member of the House Agriculture Committee.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), my friend, the distinguished majority leader.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record the cost estimate prepared by the Congressional Budget Office for H.R. 4374, the Broadband Internet Connections for Rural America Act. The cost estimate was not available at the time of the Committee report filing.

U.S. Congress,

Congressional Budget Office,

Washington, DC, November 29, 2021.

Hon. David Scott,

Chairman, Committee on Agriculture,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has

prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4374, the

Broadband Internet Connections for Rural America Act.

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be

pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jon Sperl.

Sincerely,

Phillip L. Swagel,

Director.

Enclosure.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5290) to extend authorization for livestock mandatory reporting.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 5290. Our agriculture industry is the best, the greatest in the world. And at the centerpiece of it is our livestock industry. And that is why we are gathered here.

Livestock mandatory reporting is an important tool that provides the necessary transparency information to our livestock producers. This legislation extends livestock mandatory reporting until the end of September 2022, and it has bipartisan support with Democrats and Republicans working together on this very, very important bill.

In talking to our great livestock producers, I have heard time and again how important it is to extend this mandatory reporting program; and that if we let it lapse it will cause significant problems for our farmers and ranchers.

We are working together to make sure we get the job done the right way. All of our industry groups agree on this important bill, and that is the 1-year extension immediately of our livestock reporting.

Our Agriculture Committee held a hearing earlier this year that extensively covered the importance of livestock reporting, mandatory reporting. In that hearing, we also heard from a variety of very distinguished industry representatives that, first and foremost, we need to extend this program.

My committee's work on this issue--and while I am at it, I want to really give great thanks and gratitude to our agriculture staff. They have worked very diligently on this, and we are grateful for the hard work and dedication of the House Agriculture Committee staff.

So, as I said, my work on this issue is indicative of how important the livestock industry is to our fellow committee members, both Democrats and Republicans, and to our Nation and the vital importance, as the leading force, in our Nation's economy. That is where our great agriculture system is today.

I am aware of some ongoing discussions and pending legislation that seeks to reform the cattle industry, and we are going to deal with that. We are dealing with that over in the Senate Agriculture Committee and in our House committee.

However, we should not let negotiations of those reforms that we are working with stand in the way of extending this vital program for 1 year. In recent months, we have seen cattle markets begin to recover; prices for producers have moved up. This change in market dynamics is important to account for as we look to reach a consensus point on the framework of our reforms.

This 1-year extension will help to settle the concerns in the livestock markets and provide certainty to our livestock industry, while also giving our Agriculture members in both the House and the Senate more time to come up with a consensus of the proposed reforms to cattle markets.

We, in our House committee, are working with the Senate Agriculture Committee. I am personally working with Senator Grassley on the Senate committee so that we can have legislation going forward that has the vital input of both the House and the Senate, and we are giving it the time and

the interest that is needed, more time to have a consensus on the reforms that other Members of Congress have ideas on.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I will just close right briefly with a big thank you to my great staff, which is headed by the distinguished, smart, and dedicated Anne Simmons. I don't know what I would do without her. Of course, Ashley Smith, Prescott Martin, Daniel Feingold, Lesly McNitt, Kelcy Schaunaman, and also my chief of staff, Catherine Kuerbitz. We are a team, and I want to thank our staff.

Also, I want to thank our ranking member. We work together in a bipartisan way. This is an example of how we Democrats and Republicans have got to continue to do. We are here today setting this fine example of strong bipartisanship.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5609) to amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, to establish a cattle contract library, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5609.

One of my goals, Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, is to ensure that our farmers and our ranchers are treated fairly. This bill, which creates a cattle contract library, will improve fairness through increasing transparency in the marketplaces.

Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, we have seen significant volatility in our cattle markets, and the Agriculture Committee has held hearings to discuss this volatility and the events that precipitated those price fluctuations.

As we look for ways to bring about parity to cattle markets, this bill is one good step in that right direction.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend, Mr. Johnson, for his work on this bill. This is a good reminder, another reminder, of the great bipartisan legislation that is possible when we Democrats and Republicans work together to address important issues. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Johnson, for putting this bill forward.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

First of all, I thank the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson) for his dedication, hard work, and talent in putting forward this bill.

I believe that our ranchers, farmers, and those in the agriculture industry are looking at a great day for agriculture today to get these four important bills over to the Senate, where we will be working together on them.

Mr. Speaker, again, I thank Mr. Johnson, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4489) to amend the Act of June 20, 1958, to require that certain amounts collected by the United States with respect to lands under the administration of the Forest Service be invested into interest bearing obligations, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in strong support of H.R. 4489.

This bill is an excellent example, again, of the strong bipartisan work that can be accomplished through the Agriculture Committee. First, I want to applaud and thank the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Schrier) and the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa) for working together to get this legislation to the floor for consideration today by the full House.

Mr. Speaker, we know that there are significant needs for investment in restoration and recovery work on our great national forests. Our bill this morning allows the Forest Service to keep interest on settlement funds and apply these additional resources to restoration work on Forest Service land that has been damaged by mining activities and wildfires. All of us know of the devastation that these wildfires have caused to our forests.

This is one of several major responses that we here in Congress are responding to, to keep our forestry strong and to provide this much- needed financial help to keep interest on settlement funds and apply those additional resources to the restoration work and the Forest Service lands that were damaged by these terrible fires.

It will also allow for more restoration work to be done in some of the areas where it is most needed, particularly the West Coast in California. It will allow this restoration work, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Schrier), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Again, I thank Mr. Johnson for the time he has put into this bill. The people of this country are very grateful, and we hope they realize how we here in Congress are really responding to the challenges facing our forestry, particularly with these wildfires.

A while back I recognized some of my staff, but we have had an addition that I would like to recognize because he really worked feverishly on this bill all the way up until this morning, I understand, and that is Mr. Paul Babbitt. I would ask Paul to stand. Mr. Speaker, I thank him for his work.

So much has already been said about this, but I am so proud of the efforts of our full House committee because once we really began to get into the ravages of these wildfires out West about a year back, we made a commitment that we were going to make sure that we did everything we can to save and prosper our great forestry industry, and we have done it.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this great bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5608) to support research and state management efforts on chronic wasting disease.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5608. Chronic wasting disease is a devastating illness and has had significant impacts on deer and other cervid populations around our great Nation. And improving management of chronic wasting disease is vital to containing the disease and preventing further spread of the disease.

Currently, there is no cure for the disease, and passage of this bill will also provide important research funding so that scientists can better understand the disease and their transmission.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me a real special honor to recognize and say a word about the great sponsor of this bill--two great sponsors, I might add--Mr. Ron Kind, and Ranking Member G.T. Thompson, for their longtime dedication on this important issue. Both of these gentlemen have been working on this bill feverishly for quite some time.

Mr. Speaker, it is also special because of Mr. Ron Kind, one of our stalwart leaders and tremendous contributors to the Congress and this Nation, and most certainly to his great State of Wisconsin. But we all have heard the news that our good friend, Mr. Kind, this will be his last year here with us, and he has dedicated so much of his time to this specific bill. He is a good man and a good friend, and he is also a good friend of my own brother-in-law, Hank Aaron. And he, in Wisconsin, who represents Eau Claire, played a very big role in getting that statue up there for my brother-in-law, Hank Aaron. He sent me a message when the Braves won the World Series. He said: David, Hank is up in heaven smiling now.

I say to my friend: We are going to miss you. Great work here.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), who is the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this is indeed a very proud day and a proud moment for us here in the House of Representatives. This bill is going to help our agriculture industry, our deer, and a lot of our other animals.

This chronic wasting disease has been so devastating. Ron Kind has been working on this for several years. He has not just jumped on this, he has dedicated a lot of his time to this, and it is a great monument to him as he leaves his service here in the Congress. Job well done, my friend. Job well done.

Mr. Speaker, we have no more speakers. As we are concluding our four bills today, I am so proud of the great work that our House Agriculture Committee has done. We have them all moving over to the Senate, and so our work, again, begins anew as it goes over.

We have good friends over there working. As I mentioned before, we are working with my colleague, Ms. Stabenow from Michigan, who is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee; and as I mentioned before, my friend, Senator Grassley. We are all going to come together and improve these four bills even more so.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Johnson. I want to thank Kim Schrier. I want to thank our entire committee. This has been a great day, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 132nd anniversary of the St. James African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church of Douglasville, Georgia on October 10, 2021.

Since its founding in 1889, St. James A.M.E. Church has served the greater Douglasville area through ministry, service, and fellowship. As they mark this momentous occasion, it is my pleasure to extend congratulations to the church leaders, elders, and congregation. There are many ways to gauge the impact a religious institution has on its community. However, one of the most telling is its longevity, for that demonstrates that teaching of a loving gospel can move generations of God's people.

The mission of St. James A.M.E. is to minister to the spiritual, physical, emotional, and environmental needs of all people through spreading the word of Christ. However, this church community does not just preach the gospel on Sundays, but instead carries the gospel with them every day through their good deeds. Saving the lost, serving the needy, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, caring for the sick, are only a few examples of how St. James A.M.E. impacts its community.

St. James A.M.E. has been a beacon of Christian light and fellowship for a very long time. They take care of their community and those that are struggling. Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves is deeply engrained in St. James A.M.E.'s culture. Through the spirit of selfless generosity and love for others, God has shined his light on this congregation, and you all have taken that light and steadfastly turned it on your community. For fifteen years, St. James A.M.E. has partnered with the Atlanta Community Food Bank to serve meals and provide goods to fellow neighbors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the church set up a mobile food bank and food pantry for patrons to easily get meals for their families. Additionally, St. James A.M.E. organized a COVID-19 vaccination event to ensure that citizens of the greater Douglasville area had access to this lifesaving vaccine.

Throughout the 132 years of St. James A.M.E., its members and fellow Black and African American neighbors were not afforded the same freedoms as their white brothers and sisters. This church has lived through the great Civil Rights Movement and the continued effects of racism and bigotry. Through their perseverance, they have continued to promote equality in their community, through actions such as working tirelessly during the 2020 election cycle to ensure voters were registered and had all the information they needed to cast their ballot on election day.

I am pleased to congratulate your church leaders, elders, and the generations of congregants at St. James A.M.E. Church for setting positive examples as leaders in ministry for the city of Douglasville. From the first pastors back in 1889, Reverend Pierce and Reverend Lawrence, to today's Reverend LeRoy Ladson, Jr., these leaders have grounded this community's faith and united the people of Douglasville through the Word of God.

Madam Speaker, as St. James A.M.E. Church of Douglasville, Georgia marks its 132nd anniversary, I would like to applaud this church's steadfast commitment to God's Word and God's people. I want to close with a fitting scripture that epitomizes the spirit of St. James A.M.E., Galatians 6:9, which reads, ``And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.''

May God continue to bless St. James A.M.E. Church of Douglasville, Georgia.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor an extraordinary Georgian and a great American, Dr. Thomas J. Hynes, Jr., outgoing President of Clayton State University.

Dr. Hynes is retiring as President of Clayton State University (CSU) after over ten years of serving the institution with honor and distinction. During this time, he has led the University to success and growth and helped secure Clayton State's position at the forefront of Peach State academics. Beloved by Lakers across campus, the leadership of Dr. Hynes has empowered students and greatly strengthened the CSU community.

Throughout his career, Dr. Hynes has committed himself to service through education. He previously served as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of Mass Communication at the University of West Georgia. Prior to his time at West Georgia, he served in various departments at the University of Louisville for eighteen years. Outside of his university experience, Dr. Hynes has greatly benefitted our community. He has served as the overall Chair for the Clayton County Chamber of Commerce, the Chair of the Chamber's Education Committee, a member of the Fayette County and Metro Atlanta Chambers of Commerce, and on the Atlanta Regional Commission, amongst many other local and national positions. I express my deepest appreciation for the dedication that Dr. Hynes has given to the Thirteenth District and the state of Georgia.

Throughout his various tenures, Dr. Hynes has instilled his students and others around him with exemplary values. He has led by example to reflect the importance of service to our communities. He has facilitated and encouraged an open exchange of ideas, a principle too often overlooked in a contentious world. Dr. Hynes has taught his students to pursue excellence through knowledge and to uplift themselves through a quest to reach their full potential. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Hynes for the impact he has left on future generations and I thank him for his ability to connect with his students in such a powerful way.

Madam Speaker, I congratulate Dr. Hynes on his retirement from Clayton State University and I wish him continued success, health, and happiness in the future. CSU is also prepared for continued greatness, thanks to Dr. Hynes' commitment to Strategic Plan 2022, an initiative that will give students the resources they need to succeed in a changing world, with an emphasis on community involvement.

May God continue to bless Dr. Thomas J. Hynes, Jr., and Clayton State University.

Madam Speaker, let me say to some of my Republican friends: If our African-American slave ancestors were here today, they would say to you:

You know, them that's got should get, and them that's not

should lose, because the Bible says, and it still is news,

your mama may have, and your papa may have, but God bless the

child that's got his own.

God bless the child who can say I am free. Two hundred years in the deep slavery south, but God put hope in our hearts and a song in our mouths. All we are asking is for you to express the feeling and the depths of the African-American people today who need you, all of us, White and Black Members of Congress, to stand together and vote ``yes.''

Vote ``yes.'' And by doing so, you will say not: This is my country.

You will say in one united voice: This is our country, Black and White. This is our country, the greatest country, and we thank God Almighty for this blessing.

Please, let us do as the Senate. Vote unanimously for passage of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I would like to reflect that had my vote for H. Res. 275, a resolution condemning the horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021, and reaffirming the House of Representative's commitment to combating hate, bigotry, and violence against the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community, been cast, it would have been recorded as AYE. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 149,

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for yielding. I thank my distinguished Republican colleague for his very fine comments.

Madam Speaker, this is one of our most important bills because it is happening at a time when so many of our people are facing such ravaging financial problems and concerns.

Since the passage of Dodd-Frank, which I worked hard on, as many of you did, and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, we charged that agency with ensuring that consumers have access to safe, accessible, and affordable financial products.

Yet, Madam Speaker, do you know that we still have 7.1 million of our American citizens who are unbanked, relying on pawn shops and payday lenders to get by? As this past year has laid bare, many families are just one crisis, one sickness, one broken vehicle, one emergency from absolute financial devastation.

Without support from regulated, legitimate financial institutions, these consumers are forced to turn to predatory lenders and unsound products. They are at the mercy of some of the most unscrupulous characters we know.

Our bill is a very strong bipartisan bill, which the gentleman from Arkansas has articulated well.

Madam Speaker, with this bill, we will prioritize the most underserved and unbanked persons across our great Nation, and we will be taking the first step toward improving access and affordability in banking for all of our American people.

I urge my colleagues everywhere to give this a unanimous vote on the floor later today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, this is an important and urgent activity that we are on this morning. Now, my Republican friends talked about this, but they did the identical, same thing in 2017 with President Trump's tax cuts. What is good for my friends is also good for us. That is the way the rules are.

Mr. Speaker, let me tell you how devastating the damage would be if we do not act. First of all, it will cut $29 billion from badly needed programs, and no entity will be impacted and devastated like agriculture. They will cut $29 billion and cut our programs for energy efficiency and rural development.

We are working on that together. This bill will save our rural development, research, specialty crop development, and beginning and veteran farmer development.

Out of the $29 billion, it will take $23 billion out of our Commodity Credit Corporation, limiting our ability to make payments to our farmers and food producers at this critical time when we are in a hunger crisis.

Mr. Speaker, you must understand, we Democrats and Republicans need to send a powerful message to the Nation on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, let us move hand in hand together at this serious time.

Now, when my friends used this, it was for the tax cut, most of which went to the wealthy. But this $23 billion cut to our CCC will devastate the American people where it hurts the most: their food, their water, their shelter, and their clothing. We must not do that.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join us.

Mr. Speaker, let me, first of all, try to respond so the American people will know that this money, this $1.9 trillion, is going to help our Nation survive COVID-19. It is not just a disease that is out there. It is a disease that has impacted our people.

Let me tell you what is in this bill: $800 million for food.

Don't you all know we have a hunger crisis? Don't you know that the American people are hungry? They are in record lines--you see them-- miles long every day, trying to get food.

It has $800 million for food for women, infants, and children. We have 13 million of our children and infants going to bed hungry and malnourished every single night. You know why? Because of COVID. Employment is down; our folks don't have the money to get the food.

Mr. Speaker, this is why our Agriculture Committee is having hearings tomorrow to address hunger, to see what else we need to do.

And I must respond to this.

He brought up the issue of the Black farmers. It is important for you to know that our Black farmers were not included in the other pieces, so we got them $4 billion just to help them and technical assistance. America needs this.

Madam Speaker, let's face facts. Let me tell my Republican friends: We have a terrible hunger crisis going on in this country right now. Fourteen million of our children are going to bed hungry this night.

The American people are crying out: Congress, help us.

We have support of our measure from the American Farm Federation and from Cargill, and we have support of our legislation from God Almighty Himself.

What did He tell you and me?

He said: Feed the hungry and heal the sick.

America is hungry, America is sick, and America is calling on you Republicans to love your people and take care of your people at this critical time of need.

Madam Speaker, as the first African American Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, I am proud that the American Rescue Plan Act provides support for all sectors of agricultural production, including farmers, ranchers, and private forest land owners of color.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) spends billions of dollars annually in providing much needed support to American producers. Sadly, Black farmers and other farmers of color have received a small share of the USDA farm loans and payments as a result of discrimination. When these producers did receive loans or payments, many of them were not provided timely or proper loan servicing options due to discrimination, which led to producers of color losing their land and operations.

Sections 1005 and 1006 of the American Rescue Plan Act provide targeted and tailored support for these farmers and ranchers. I note for the record that changes made to these sections in the Manager's Amendment were to ensure that these sections would meet the requirements of section 313 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 for consideration in the United States Senate.

The systemic discrimination against Black farmers and other farmers of color by USDA is longstanding and well-documented and continues to present barriers for these producers to participate in the agricultural economy. It is important that we document this history and the continuing challenges for these farmers of color in the Congressional Record.

A 1965 report by the United States Commission on Civil Rights found that Federal, state, and local officials discriminated against Black farmers in agricultural programs and that this discrimination actively contributed to the decline in the Black ownership of farmland.

In 1968, a follow up report from the United States Commission on Civil Rights found that Black farmers continued to face discrimination when seeking farm loans and other forms of assistance.

In 1970, the United States Commission on Civil Rights again found that discrimination continued in USDA program administration. The 1970 report indicated that prior to 1968, no Black farmer had ever been elected to any former Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service committee at the county level in the South. In 1970, two out of more than 4,100 committee members in the South were Black farmers, even though there were 58 counties in the South, where Black farmers comprised a majority of the farm operator population.

In 1982, the United States Commission on Civil Rights issued another report on the rapid decline of Black-operated farms. The report noted that between 1970 and 1980, the Black farm population declined 65 percent, compared to a 22 percent decline in the white farm population. The report also documented numerous discrimination complaints filed against USDA field offices regarding the administration of farm loan programs and noted that for many of these complaints, USDA's Office of Equal Opportunity investigated and found equal opportunity violations at those field offices. The report concluded that racial discrimination was continuing within the USDA, at USDA headquarters, and in the network of field offices that implement USDA programs.

In 1988, Congress passed section 617 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 requiring the USDA to establish annual target participation rates, on a county-wide basis, that would ensure that members of socially disadvantaged groups receive direct or guaranteed farm ownership loans. Congress amended this requirement in 1996, to ensure that USDA's implementation was consistent with the holding of the Supreme Court in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Federico Pena, Secretary of Transportation, 515 U.S. 200 (1995), which held that race-based actions by the government is within constitutional constraints when it is necessary to further a compelling interest such as the ``unhappy persistence of both the practice and lingering effects of racial discrimination against minority groups.''

A 1995 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that socially disadvantaged producers were significantly underrepresented on the county and community committees of the former Agricultural Stabilization

and Conservation Service. Specifically, the report found that while minority producers accounted for nearly 5 percent of the producers eligible to vote for committee members, minority producers only represented 2.1 percent of county committee members in the United States.

In 1997, the USDA formed a Civil Rights Action Team to hold nationwide listening sessions to hear from socially disadvantaged and minority farmers. A report published after the listening sessions documented Black, Hispanic, Asian-American, and American Indian farmers who told stories of USDA hurting minority farmers more than helping them. Minority farmers described how their discrimination complaints were caught in the backlog of appeals or if successfully appealed, were given findings of discrimination that were not enforced. The report acknowledged that discrimination in USDA program delivery continued to exist to a large degree unabated.

Also in 1997, the USDA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a report to the USDA Secretary that noted ``a climate of disorder within the civil rights staff at [the Farm Service Agency].'' It was difficult for the OIG to even determine the number and status of civil rights complaints at the agency and department because of that climate. As the OIG later summarized in a 2005 audit, ``it took 12 days longer to complete minority applications, delinquencies were higher for minority borrowers than nonminority borrowers, and minority borrowers were reluctant to enter into FSA offices to apply for loans.''

In 1998, the USDA National Commission on Small Farms further described and documented the longstanding discrimination of USDA towards socially disadvantaged producers. And, it observed that ``discrimination has been a contributing factor in the decline of Black farmers over the last several decades.'' The Commission's report also notes the ``history of under-allocation of resources to institutions that have served minority farmers,'' the ``disgraceful'' ``failure to elect minority farmers to positions on FSA County Committees,'' and more.

During the period between 1997 and 2000, Black farmers, Native American farmers, and Latinx farmers filed lawsuits alleging USDA discriminated against them on the basis of race in processing their farm program applications and that USDA failed to investigate their complaints of discrimination. But settlements resulting from these lawsuits have not provided the relief necessary for these farmers of color to participate fully in the American agricultural economy.

For example, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2012 that payments made to Black farmers under the Pigford settlements were significantly eroded by state taxes, as well as tax debt related to forgiven USDA farm loans.

In 2001, a report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights documented the continued discriminatory lending practices against minority farmers. The Commission found that Black farmers waited four times longer than white farmers for USDA farm loans. The Commission recommended that USDA resolve the backlog of civil rights complaints and document and alleviate discriminatory lending practices. However, USDA continued to struggle with resolving its backlog of civil rights complaints. In 2008, GAO reported that USDA's difficulties in resolving discrimination complaints persisted and that the USDA had not achieved its goal of preventing future backlogs of discrimination complaints.

Recent studies and reports continue to document the challenges and barriers faced by farmers of color due to race or ethnic discrimination or the legacy of such discrimination. A September 20, 2017, study in the Agriculture and Human Values journal described the challenges faced by Latinx farmers due to failure of agricultural agencies to engage in appropriate outreach or account for language barriers.

In 2019, a GAO report observed that socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers had proportionately less agricultural credit than non- socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. This report found that farmers and ranchers of color continued to face more difficulties in obtaining farm loans and highlighted the historic, systemic discrimination against such farmers.

The Market Facilitation Program and Coronavirus Food Assistance Program are recent USDA programs designed to bolster the farm economy; in both programs the majority of funds went to non-minority farmers. For example, the Environmental Working Group reported that nonminority farmers received nearly 97 percent of the $9.2 billion provided by the USDA's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Additionally, the Farm Bill Law Enterprise reported that 99 percent of Market Facilitation Payments went to non-minority farmers.

The systemic discrimination of farmers, ranchers, and other producers of color by the USDA is longstanding and well-documented. I urge my colleagues to support me and the Committee on Agriculture as we work to enable socially disadvantaged producers to succeed in the agricultural economy. Sections 1005 and 1006 of the bill before the House today are critical to that work, and I urge my colleagues to support this measure.