Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to recognize the continuing contributions of the 1890 Land-Grant Universities on the 125th anniversary of the passage of the Second Morrill Act of 1890. As a network of historically black colleges and universities dedicated to providing educational opportunity for all through innovative scientific research and community-minde... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning. Today, the Committee on Agriculture will shift its focus from legislation and oversight, to one of a less political nature, but of significant importance nonetheless. Land-grant institutions are often categorized as 1862, 1890, and 1994 institutions, based on the date of the legislation that designated most of them with land-grant status. August 30th... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee approved H.R. 1599, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015. First introduced by Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), the legislation has evolved through bipartisan discussions between the Agriculture Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee. The amendment in the nature of a substitute, offered by Rep. Davis ... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning. Today we will consider the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015. I’d like to first commend the sponsors, Representatives Mike Pompeo of Kansas and G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina for their hard work and leadership. I would also like to thank Ranking Member Peterson, Subcommittee Chairman Davis and Subcommittee Ranking Member DelBene for the... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Rodney Davis (IL-13), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research, held a public hearing to review the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) marketing programs. Dr. Craig Morris, Deputy Administrator of the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) Livestock and Seed Program provided an overview of A... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Today the subcommittee examined the tools and capabilities of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service to assist food producers market their products. As we look more closely at the types of products consumers are demanding, we need to have the programs in place to ensure that the claims made on product labels are truthful and not misleading. Farmers want and need to provide cons... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good afternoon. I would like to welcome everyone to the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research. For the past several months, the Committee has evaluated aspects of agricultural marketing. As we have observed, consumers, ourselves included, are becoming increasingly savvy. As the number of choices available to us have increased, so has our desire to locate and... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced a hearing for June 18, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. in Rayburn 2123 entitled “A National Framework for the Review and Labeling of Biotechnology in Food.” Committee members will discuss a substitute amendment crafted jointly by the House Agriculture Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee. Agriculture Committee Chairman ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL), Chairman of the Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research Subcommittee, held a public hearing to review the federal coordination and response regarding pollinator health. In both the 2008 and 2014 farm bills, provisions were included to authorize pollinator research and extension programs; to expand capacity and infrastructure within the U.S. Dep... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Good afternoon. I would like to welcome everyone to this hearing in which we will continue to examine aspects of pollinator health. As many of you are aware, the Agriculture Committee has had a long interest in examining and promoting pollinator health. In both the 2008 and 2014 farm bills, provisions were included to authorize pollinator research and extension programs, impro... Read more »
