Farm Bill Impact Series: Crop Insurance

Floor Speech

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Mr. MANN. Madam Speaker, in preparation for reauthorizing the farm bill in 2023, I rise today to deliver the next installment of my Farm Bill Impact Series where I am highlighting various aspects of the farm bill that deserves Congress' awareness and support.

If America is going to thrive, the people who feed, fuel, and clothe America must thrive, and the farm bill contains certain programs that have been critical to the success of agricultural producers in my district and the food security of our country. This week, I am talking about crop insurance.

I believe that crop insurance is one of the most important programs within the farm bill, and my conversation with producers, farm economists, and crop insurance agents have shaped my understanding of how critical it is to reauthorize the crop insurance title in full for 2023.

Crop insurance helps producers manage the risks that they face every day from weather, pests, disease, and market volatility; it has also been one of our Nation's best public-private partnership programs between the government, private industry, and agricultural producers. Crop insurance does two things: it benefits farmers and it benefits Americans. Crop insurance never replaces a good crop, but it lets producers stay in the game if disaster strikes and it helps to ensure that our country continues to be the most food-secure nation in the world.

I recently spoke with two Kansas farmers to get their thoughts on the importance of crop insurance. One of them said to me, ``I spend a lot of time thinking about the agronomic and economic strength of my farm. Crop insurance is the most important tool in my toolbox for ensuring my farm's economic strength in the face of my two biggest challenges: the weather and the global market. For small family operations like mine, banks want to see crop insurance before they will give you a line of credit because they want to know that you can remain resilient as an operation through times of volatility.''

Another Kansas farmer told me, ``The very first year I was not sure that I wanted to take out insurance. My mom convinced me to manage my risk and so I did. That year was extremely dry in the spring, and my first crop of wheat only made 12 bushels to the acre. If I didn't have crop insurance, that year would have put me in a deep hole, and I would have missed my equipment payments. I have never forgotten that, and I have carried crop insurance every year since.''

There are countless stories just like these that testify to the importance of crop insurance, without which the government would be continually considering ad hoc disaster relief programs for farmers. Crop insurance is a market-based approach to risk management with a proven track record. The more we reduce the impact of risk and volatility in agriculture, the more food secure we become as a nation, and the more food secure we are, the stronger and freer we are.

I support whatever directly benefits farmers, ranchers, and ag producers in this country because they are the lifeblood of America. They keep us food secure, and therefore, free and self-determining as a nation. That is why I support crop insurance within Title XI, and why I am bringing awareness to it now, to ensure that this program remains strong in the 2023 farm bill.

I will be back on the floor soon to deliver another installment of my Farm Bill Impact Series and highlight more programs and titles within the bill that I believe this Congress must understand and support to ensure that agriculture thrives in America. President Biden's First State of the Union Speech

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Mr. MANN. Madam Speaker, tonight the President will give his first State of the Union speech in this very Chamber. Unfortunately, our country is far weaker and has greatly declined in the 13\1/2\ months since President Biden took office.

His heavy-handed COVID mandates have decimated workforces and hit certain industries, like healthcare, especially hard. Crime is rising on our streets, which is a direct result of efforts to defund the police. Biden's open border policies will result in approximately 2 million apprehensions in a single year.

Our debt is approaching $30 trillion with no end in sight. Inflation and the rising cost of practically everything Americans need to live is wreaking havoc on our people, especially those on fixed incomes. Supply chains are in disarray.

The administration's needless war on domestic oil and gas production has led to dramatic increases at the pump and has caused the United States to once again, unfortunately, be a net oil importer.

President Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan cost American lives and weakened our standing in the world. This weakness then emboldened Russia and resulted in Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and all the while we are doing far too little to stand up to China.

The list goes on and on. America badly needs its President to quickly and dramatically reverse course so that the state of our Union is something that we can all be proud of and that will once again be strong.

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