Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 7567 the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, and in particular, my amendment No. 15, to ensure Arizona farmers are not left behind.…
Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 7567 the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, and in particular, my amendment No. 15, to ensure Arizona farmers are not left behind.
The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the desert southwest. In my State, it sustains families, small agricultural businesses, and entire rural communities. Yet, today, the lifeline is under growing strain, not just from drought, but from broken commitments.
Under the Mexican Water Treaty of 1944, Mexico is obligated to deliver 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the United States. The deadline passed in October of 2025, and once again, Mexico failed to meet its obligation. Meanwhile, Arizona continues to deliver water in good faith.
That imbalance has real consequences. It means lost crops, lost income, and increased uncertainty for hardworking producers already operating on razor-thin margins.
My amendment is straightforward. It directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide Congress with a full accounting of the tools and programs available to assist Arizona producers impacted by those losses, just as this base bill already does for Texas.
If we are going to address the consequences of treating noncompliance, we must do it comprehensively and fairly. This is about accountability. It is about preparedness. It is about standing with American farmers when they are forced to shoulder burdens not of their own making.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment No. 15 and pass the farm bill. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), the chairman of the full committee.
Mr. Chairman, if the gentlewoman would have known, Arizona is the terminal ending out of Mexico of getting--they have to take the cuts. We have taken several cuts, and there are plenty members from the other basin States, but they can actually look at those as well.
This is about the State of Arizona taking terminal ending of that Colorado River, taking cuts. I would ask everybody to vote for my amendment and to vote for the farm bill. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, and in strong support of my amendment No. 16 to restore fairness for ranchers in Arizona and across the Southwest.
For years, ranchers have lived with the realities of predation from the Mexican wolf. They have understood the balance between conservation and livelihoods, but what they cannot accept is a Federal standard that makes it nearly impossible to receive compensation when their cattle are killed.
Under current guidance issued by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, ranchers must prove depredation primarily through subcutaneous hemorrhaging, which is blood that forms under the skin. In the harsh desert climate, where heat and scavengers can quickly degrade a carcass, that standard is often unrealistic and unworkable.
Before 2023, Federal policy allowed multiple forms of evidence to confirm depredation. My amendment simply restores that commonsense approach. It ensures that ranchers are not denied reimbursement because of overly narrow and impractical rules.
This is about fairness. It is about recognizing real-world conditions on the ground. It is about standing with men and women who feed this country.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, No. 16, and pass the farm bill.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Chair, I will address the gentlewoman first.
Obviously, the previous standards were used from 2004 to 2022 by George W. Bush and Obama and at the beginning of Biden's term. If the Democrats disagreed, did they disagree with Obama's agricultural policy, as well?
Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), the full committee chairman.
Mr. Chair, once again, I am only asking for fairness because what we see on the ground is that there were other ways of looking at this. They are not asking for handouts. They are just wanting to be treated fairly.
Mr. Chair, I ask for my amendment to be adopted as well as the farm bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, and in support of my amendment No. 18.
This bipartisan, commonsense amendment puts guardrails on taxpayer dollars by restricting USDA funding for animal research conducted in adversarial nations like China and Russia, countries that pose clear risks to our national security.
In recent years, Americans have seen the consequences of risky, unaccountable research conducted overseas. Despite these lessons, Federal dollars are continuing to flow to foreign labs, including collaborations tied to entities associated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
My amendment ensures that does not happen without serious consequences or justification. It prohibits USDA funding for such research unless there is a compelling national security or public and animal health need and requires Congress to be notified in advance.
This is about accountability. It is about safeguarding taxpayer dollars. It is about ensuring American resources are not used in frivolous ways that could undermine our own safety.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment No. 18 and pass the farm bill.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Chair, obviously the gentlewoman is not understanding the amendment.
My amendment ensures that it does not happen without serious justification. Yes, you can share information, but you also have to have the parameters. I am a dentist, so I understand these things. You have to have the parameters and safety aspects, which were not followed in the Wuhan COVID-19 situation.
Mr. Chair, with that, you need the proper protocols and the proper aspects. It still allows for the public financing of doing that, but it has to be justified.
That is what we want: accountability and transparency.
Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), the chairman of the full committee.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, once again, affording this type of legislation is about affording COVID or the Wuhan virus or anything else that may come about this, so we have to make sure that we are accountable to the scientific methodology, to the patients, to the public, and to the citizens of this country.
This is about fairness, and it is also about transparency and accountability. I urge all of my colleagues to vote for my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
