Effective Date

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I raise my voice today to add my support for the steps taken by the House Agriculture Committee under the leadership of Chairman David Scott to include provisions in H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act, to begin to correct the long and documented history of USDA discrimination against producers of color.

The existence of this longstanding discrimination cannot be disputed. Every year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture spends billions of dollars in programmatic and direct support for American producers and we know that those resources have, unfortunately, not been equitably distributed due to discrimination. The provisions included in sections 1005 and 1006 of the American Rescue Plan Act are a tailored approach towards correcting the wrongs felt by too many.

I am not alone in raising my voice and support for these provisions. In addition to the support of many Members of the House Agriculture Committee and of the 117th Congress, more than 200 organizations have voiced their support for this language. Among those who have spoken out in support of these provisions are:

Advance Carolina, Raleigh, NC; Advancing Collective Equity, Portland, OR; African Alliance of Rhode Island, RI; Agri-Cultura Cooperative Network, Albuquerque, NM; Agricultural Missions, Inc., New York, NY; Agroecology Research-Action Collective, Oakland, CA; Alabama Rivers Alliance, Birmingham, AL; Alabama State Association of Cooperatives, Epes, AL; Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Oxnard, CA; Alliance for the Great Lakes, Chicago, IL; Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, New Market, VA; American Farmland Trust; American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3354, Saint Louis, MO; American Sustainable Business Council, Washington, DC; Amy's Kitchen; Atrisco Valley Farm LLC, Albuquerque, NM; Bayer; Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc.; Black Family Land Trust, Inc., Durham, NC; Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, Tillery, NC; Black Farmers and Ranchers New Mexico, Jerales, NM; Bolthouse Farms; Boulder County Farmers Markets, Boulder, CO.

Cabot Creamery; Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment; Cargill; Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Pittsboro, NC; Center for Agriculture and Food Systems; Center for Biological Diversity, St. Petersburg, FL; Center for Community Self-Help, Durham, NC; Center for Science in the Public Interest, Washington, DC; Chef Danielle Leoni; Chef Judy Ni; Chef Keema Johnson; Chef Mark Bittman; Chobani; Church Women United in New York State, Rochester NY; City Love, Philadelphia, PA; Clean Water Action, Washington, DC; Clif Bar & Company; Coastal Enterprises, Inc., Brunswick, ME; Colorado CoBank; Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Davis, California; Community Food and Justice Coalition, Oakland, California; Concerned Citizens of Tillery, Tillery, NC; Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive, Santa Rosa, CA; Cottage House, Inc., Ariton, AL; Cultivate Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Virginia; Cumberland County Food Security Council, Portland, Maine.

Dakota Rural Action, Brookings, SD; Danone North America; Darden's Farm Health Services, Littleton, NC; DelMonte Foods, Inc.; Democracy Green, Morganton, NC; Earth Action, Inc., Pensacola, FL; Earthjustice, New York, NY; Ecological Farming Association, Soquel, CA; Ecotrust; Ekar Farm, Denver, CO; Equity Advocates, Harrison, NY; Environmental Working Group; Experimental Farm Network, Philadelphia, PA; Factory Farming Awareness Coalition; Fair Farms, Takoma Park, MD; Fair Food Network, Ann Arbor, MI; Family Farm Action, Mexico, MO; Family Farm Defenders, Madison, WI; Farm Aid; Farm and Food Alliance, Paonia, CO; Farmers Market Coalition, Albany, CA Farms to Grow, Inc., Oakland, CA; Farmworker Association of Florida, Apopka, FL; Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund; Feed the Truth, Washington, DC; Feeding America.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried; Food & Nutrition Innovation Institute at Tufts University, Boston, MA; Food & Water Watch, Washington, DC; Food Animal Concerns Trust, Chicago, IL; Food Law and Policy Clinic, Harvard Law School, Boston, MA; FoodCorps, Washington, DC; FoodPrint; Friends of Family Farmers, Walterville, Oregon; Friends of the Earth; Georgia Organics, Atlanta, Georgia; GMO/ Toxin Free USA, Unionville, CT; GoFarm, Golden, CO; Golden Ponds Farm, Franklin, AR; Green State Solutions, Iowa City; Happy Family Organics; Hazon, Falls Village, CT; Health Environment Agriculture Labor Food Alliance, Chicago, IL; Healthy Gulf, New Orleans, LA; Heartwood, Tell City, IN; Heifer USA, Little Rock, AR; Hempstead Project Heart, WI; High Desert Food and Farm Alliance; Hmong American Farmers Association, St. Paul, MN Illinois; Hunger Free America Inc., New York, NY; Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis, MN.

Intertribal Agriculture Council; Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Des Moines, IA; Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Baltimore, MD; Johnson's Farm, Wichita, KS; Kansas Black Farmers, Nicodemus, KS; Kansas Rural Center, Wichita, Kansas; Kellogg Company; KIND Healthy Snacks; King Arthur Baking, White River Junction, VT; Knoxville Knox County Food Policy Council, Knoxville, TN; La Semilla Food Center, Anthony, NM; Land For Good, Keene, NH; Land Stewardship Action Fund, Minneapolis, MN; Land Stewardship Project, Minneapolis, MN; Latino Farmers of the Southeast, Crescent City, FL; LEAD for Pollinators, Inc., Akron, OH; Lundberg Family Farms; Lyon County Food and Farm Council, Emporia, KS; Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Unity, ME; Mars; Mercy for Animals; Missouri Rural Crisis Center, Columbia, MO; Montana Organic Association, Missoula, MT; National Black Farmers Association; National Black Growers Council.

National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; National Family Farm Coalition, Washington, D.C.; National Farm to School Network; National Farmers Union; National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association; National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association, Washington, D.C.; National Milk Producers Federation; National Organic Coalition, Arlington, MA; Natural Resources Defense Council; National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition; National Wildlife Federation, Washington, D.C.; National Young Farmers Coalition; Native Farm Bill Coalition; Nature's Path; NCBA-CLUSA; Nestle USA; New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, Beverly, MA; New Mexico Hemp Company, LLC, Albuquerque, NM; North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project, Durham, NC; Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, Syracuse, NY; Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, Richmond, VT; Northeast Organic Farming Association-Interstate Council, Stillwater, NY; Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, Kingston, NY; Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, Gloucester, MA; Nourish Colorado, Denver, CO; Now You Know New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, Oklahoma City, OK; Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project, Inc., Oklahoma City, OK; One Country Project; Oregon Food Bank, Portland, OR; Organic Advocacy, Felton, CA; Organic Farmers Association, Spirit Lake, IA.

Organic Seed Alliance, Port Townsend, WA; Organic Trade Association; Organic Valley; OrganicEye, Washington, D.C.; Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, Harrisburg, PA; Patagonia Provisions; Pennsylvania Council of Churches, Harrisburg, PA; PepsiCo, Inc.; Pesticide Action Network, Berkeley, CA; Pete and Gerry's Organics; Pinnacle Prevention, Chandler, Arizona; Prairie Rivers Network, Champaign, IL; Public Justice Food Project; Recirculating Farms; ROCUNITED, New York, NY; Roots of Change, Oakland, CA; Rural Advancement Foundation International; Rural Advancement Fund of the National Sharecroppers Fund, Inc. Orangeburg, SC; Rural America Chamber of Commerce, Callicoon, NY; Rural Coalition, Washington, D.C.; Rural Development Leadership Network, New York, NY; Sanarte Healing Culture Clinic, San Antonio, TX; San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition, Alamosa, CO; Slow Food USA, Brooklyn, NY; Solar Wind Works, Wellington, NV.

Sow True Seed; Stewardship Alliance, Springfield, IL; Stonyfield Organic; Sustainable Food Center, Austin, TX; Syngenta; Texas Mexico Border Coalition Community Based Organization, San Isidro, TX; The Center for Environmental Transformation, Camden, NJ; The Coca-Cola Company; The Common Market, Philadelphia, PA; The Marion Institute, Southcoast Food Policy Council, Marion, MA; Unilever United States; Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, D.C.; WATCH, Inc., Charlevoix, MI, USA; Western Organization of Resource Councils, Billings, MT; Winston County Self Help Cooperative, Jackson, MS; World Farmers Inc., Lancaster, MA; 100 Ranchers; 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement, Eutaw AL.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source