Cantwell Applauds Approval of Vital Agriculture Package, Secures $19 Million for Washington State Farmers
Cantwell Applauds Approval of Vital Agriculture Package, Secures $19 Million for Washington State Farmers
Funding will Boost Agriculture Exports, Expand WSU Research, Track Canadian Cattle Imports
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) applauded the Senate's approval Thursday of an agriculture bill that will give Pacific Northwest farmers an important boost and expand agriculture research efforts at Washington State University (WSU). All together, Cantwell helped secure nearly $19 million in the bill to support Washington state farmers.
"Today we affirmed our solid support for America's farmers," said Cantwell. "Agriculture is the backbone of Washington state's economy, and this bill makes important investments in our future. By supporting ground-breaking agricultural research, we're keeping Washington competitive, and we're making sure the jobs stay right here at home."
The Conference Report on the Agriculture Appropriations bill, approved Thursday, restores $179 million in vital Hatch Act funding that was slated for elimination in the President's Budget Proposal. The Hatch Act provides important resources to agriculture research programs at land-grant universities like Washington State University (WSU). Senator Cantwell fought hard to save this important funding, highlighting the importance of agricultural research to Washington state's continued economic competitiveness. Without this federal support, many existing agriculture research programs would be non-existent, and WSU would have been forced to close one or more of its agricultural research centers.
"By reinforcing agriculture research, we've made sure Washington state remains on the cutting edge of agriculture innovation," said Cantwell.
Cantwell secured $3,625 million for construction of a new Agriculture Research Service (ARS) facility in Pullman, Washington. Currently, ARS scientists in Pullman work in inadequate facilites, lack room to grow, and do not have the labratory space needed to conduct existing work. The new facility will provide a state of the art research lab allowing ARS and WSU scientists to train students and collaborate on project benefiting agriculture productivity and profitability in the Pacific Northwest.
Cantwell was also successful in securing $50,000 to assist the State's Veterinary office track Canadian Cattle imports through Washington more effectively. Since the December 2003 discovery of a BSE-infected cow in Mabton, Washington, the state's beef industry has suffered considerable economic losses, with most of Washington's major trading partners closing their markets to U.S. beef even though the infected cow was of Canadian origin. Cantwell's cattle tracking initiative will help implement measures to protect against Mad Cow and keep track of Canadian Cattle imports.
In addition to funding a host of other WSU research initiatives, the agriculture appropriations bill adds Washington to the states eligible to participate in the Simplified Summer Food Service Programa program to boost participation in summer reduced-fee lunch programs for children.
The House passed the Conference Report on the Agriculture Appropriation bill last week. A list of Cantwell-sponsored project included in the final version of the Agriculture Appropriations bill follows.
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http://cantwell.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=248290&&