Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my amendment, numbered 40 to Division B of H.R. 7608, to provide $750,000 for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Agricultural and Food Research Initiative to research innovative practices to increase carbon storage in agricultural land. My amendment identifies Enhanced Rock Weathering as a priority research area, with a focus especially on how this practice enhances carbon sequestration or may affect air quality and soil health. Additionally, my amendment requires that research also identify any impacts this practice would have on workers and consumers.

As discussed by a new major research study from the University of Sheffield, published in Nature, adding rock dust to farmland could remove up to two billion tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year and help significantly reduce our global CO2 footprint. The technique of adding crushed volcanic rock dust to farmland--known as ``enhanced rock weathering''--has shown great potential to increase the soil's extraction of carbon dioxide from the environment.

However, there are significant gaps in this research, including the side effects of this method on public health for both farmworkers and neighboring communities, and USDA is not currently engaged in studying this particular practice. Clearly more research is needed on this technology, and USDA is well-positioned to fund this work.

I urge the adoption of this commonsense amendment to this en-bloc package.

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Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my amendment numbered 71 to Division C of H.R. 7608 to increase base funding to $300,000 within the National Park Service budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 for the New England National Scenic Trail (NET).

The NET was designated by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 making it the newest of the nation's 11 national scenic trails. The NET is a 220-mile hiking trail winding through 40 communities in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Nearly 2 million people live within 10 miles of the trail, and since the designation, excitement about the trail and activities to improve the trail have continued to increase. The NET is managed through a partnership between the National Park Service and two of New England's most established nonprofit trail and conservation organizations--the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), established in 1876, and the Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA), established in 1895.

Since designation, the NET has been flat-funded at an average level of $127,000 in Operation of the National Park System funding, despite a conservative recommendation in its original 2005 NPS Trail Feasibility Study of an annual operating budget of $271,000. An increase in base funding is needed to implement the federal portion of the Trail Management Blueprint for the NET and to support the work of two trail partner organizations, the AMC and the CFPA.

Based on more than a decade of experience with NET trail operations and needs, a total annual appropriation of $300,000 in FY 2021 is recommended to fully fund this trail and to support the work of volunteers, regional partners, and youth trail crews as they execute improvements to trail infrastructure, trail protection and planning, and trail information and promotion.

I urge adoption of this en-bloc package, and I want to thank Mr. Himes, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Larson, Ms. Hayes, Mr. Neal, and Mr. McGovern for their kind support for this measure.

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