Washington, D.C. - Suffering under combined pressures of natural disasters and predatory foreign competition by China, India, and others, financially struggling American cotton farmers received strong backing from Capitol Hill today as 100 Members of the House of Representatives urged U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to use legal authority provided under the 2014 Farm Bill to provide cruc... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning, and welcome to today’s hearing. Providing credit to America’s farmers and ranchers is a necessary and serious challenge for many lenders in the United States. After a recent period of historic highs, crop prices have declined due to record plantings and strong production, input costs have risen, and some of our biggest foreign competitors are sharply... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) issued the following statement concerning the inclusion of a critical provision in the Highway Bill conference report that will save Federal Crop Insurance from devastating changes that had been slipped into the Bipartisan Budget Act signed into law last month. “I strongly commend House Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy for their... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Agriculture Committee Chairmen Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Rep. K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, and Ranking Members Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., made the following statements on the budget deal. The Members of Congress stand united against reopening the 2014 Farm Bill to further cuts, emphasizing that the proposed cuts to crop insurance... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Thank you for joining us today and welcome to today’s business meeting to consider H.R. 1317, a bill to amend the Commodity Exchange Act and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to specify how clearing requirements apply to certain affiliate transactions, and for other purposes. During consideration of the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress clearly intended to exempt commercial ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee approved an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1317, a bill to amend the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to specify how clearing requirements apply to certain affiliate transactions, and for other purposes. First introduced by Reps. Steve Stivers (R-OH), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Chris Gibson (R-NY... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Thank you for joining us today and welcome to today’s business meeting to consider H.R. 1317, a bill to amend the Commodity Exchange Act and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to specify how clearing requirements apply to certain affiliate transactions, and for other purposes. During consideration of the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress clearly intended to exempt commercial ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) today issued the following statement after the House passed H.R. 2051, a bill to reauthorize the Mandatory Price Reporting Act, the United States Grain Standards Act, and the National Forest Foundation Act. Legislative language to reauthorize each of these was introduced, reported by the House Agriculture Committee, and pa... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - The House Agriculture Committee completed its two-day hearing series to review the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organization and program administration. Over the past two days, members of the committee heard from 25 undersecretaries, administrators, and other department officials on topics relating to USDA’s seven mission areas, including an accounting for each area’s... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: This hearing will come to order. Since this Committee formally organized on January 21 of this year, the Committee has met 44 times. In keeping with my commitment to hold a top-to-bottom review of a full range of issues and policies within our jurisdiction, we have held 3 executive briefings on trade and conducted 33 hearings. And, stemming from what we have learn... Read more »
