Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BAUMGARTNER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chair, my amendment would include the Columbia Basin project in the Western Waters Regional Conservation Area.
This area here would be included in this larger green area.
Let's start with the facts. The Columbia Basin Project spans nearly 1.1 million acres in central Washington, one of the most productive agriculture regions in the United States.
But here is the gap: Nearly 400,000 acres of land is in a conservation crisis. Farmers are basically out of water now. They are pumping from dry wells. Inclusion of this area as a critical conservation area will make this area eligible for Federal conservation efforts to make sure it is properly irrigated, and before our local family farms run out of time and water.
This is a crisis--unrealized production, unrealized efficiency, and unrealized water management in the West.
Of course, this underlying bill I hope is a bipartisan effort. I think it is. The original effort of the Columbia Basin Project was certainly a bipartisan effort, and it is good to give praise where praise is due. One of America's greatest Presidents, Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt, actually initiated the Columbia Basin Project, and it was wonderful at a time when America could get big things done to help make the desert bloom, and we need to do that again.
This amendment helps in part do that.
Under current law, the Food Security Act of 1985 gives the USDA discretion to prioritize conservation investments. This amendment simply ensures the Columbia Basin is given due consideration for programs like the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.
It is not a mandate. It is not a change in water rights. It is not a new bureaucracy.
If included in the Western Waters Critical Conservation Area, the Columbia Basin Project land-area will provide fertile ground to build irrigation and water conservation projects.
This will provide targeted access to Federal tools and support structures to help farmers to use it more efficiently, improve soil health, and bring more of this land into productive, stable use.
If we are serious about conservation in the West, which we certainly should be, and it is something Republicans and Democrats I think share together, we need to work with the lands and work on projects like this.
This is a practical amendment. It is a profarmer amendment, and it is a smart use of water policy for the future.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BAUMGARTNER. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BAUMGARTNER. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I think the 119th Congress has done a lot of great work, and I think this underlying farm bill is certainly going to be a highlight of that great work.
I have enjoyed my first term in Congress immensely, and I enjoy being in this august Chamber with so many talented Republicans and Democratic colleagues.
There are two written things in this Chamber. One is the statement ``In God We Trust.'' The other is the quote by the good Representative from Massachusetts, Daniel Webster, which is above your head.
Mr. Chair, I will just close by reading a portion of that statement. I think about that frequently when we vote here. I don't think, frankly, all the time that everything we vote on rises to fulfill this statement that is listed in this Chamber but as the great Daniel Webster said: Let us develop the resources of our land and call upon their powers so that we in our time may do something that will be remembered.
I think when Franklin Delano Roosevelt worked with Republicans and Democrats to develop the Columbia Basin Project, they did something that called forth the powers of the land, something that was remembered and benefited many future generations.
I think with the adoption of this amendment to include this portion in our water conservation efforts we are doing something that will benefit future generations.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source