Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, the House Committee on Agriculture hosted a Farm Bill listening session in Waco, Texas. Congressional Western Caucus Members "GT" Thompson (PA-15), Austin Scott (GA-08), Jim Baird (IN-04), Tracey Mann (KS-01), Kat Cammack (FL-03), and Ronny Jackson (TX-13) participated.

“When it comes to public policy, if you’re not at the table, you’re probably on the menu. And we want you at the table,” said House Agriculture Committee Chair “GT” Thompson. “You don’t want us writing this Farm Bill just listening to the voices inside the Beltway of Washington.”

“We know we’re all in this together, right? Because if we’re not producing, then the people aren’t eating and if you’re not farming today, the likelihood that you’re going to be farming tomorrow is pretty slim,” said House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit Chair Austin Scott. “Russia is the number two producer of potash, Belarus is the number three producer of potash, China is number four. We’ve got to do a better job of making sure that we’re not depending on any of these countries for the inputs in agriculture, that includes seed and chemicals.”

“I grew up in west central Indiana on a farm, and so I really consider you folks, the same kind of people that raised me with my family on a farm,” said House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology Chair Jim Baird. “And I consider you the foundation of these rural communities. The money that circulates because of your efforts in these small towns and rural communities is essential to keeping them alive.”

“At the end of the day, food security is national security,” said House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Chair Tracey Mann. “America is a free nation, in part, because we have never had to rely on another country for our food supply. If we get food policy wrong, if we mess up agriculture in this country and end up having to rely on imports only, we will be weaker as a nation.”

“I have a particular distaste for regulations, because as someone who grew up in agriculture, I knew what those regulations were doing,” said Rep. Kat Cammack. “While they may sound great in theory in Washington, there is no swamp creature or bureaucrat in the basement that knows better than us out here in the fields.”

“Ag is a national security issue, and we’ve got to get it right,” said Rep. Ronny Jackson.

Click here to watch.