Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026

Floor Speech

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this amendment, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, just wow. Just wow. That entire speech is just wow. At the end of the day, we are sitting here talking about the farm bill, and this amendment does nothing to materially address the very real issues farmers are facing as they look at planting season today.

All I could really hear is the word ``Brazil.'' We have forced our largest export markets, like China, to Brazil and Argentina because of bad policies from this administration.

I am pretty sure that my farmers back home in Minnesota are far more concerned about how they are going to afford fertilizer to make it to next year without a substantial loss than they are about emissions standards on their tractors.

The cost of diesel has gone up 50 percent since the start of the war in Iran. Where are my colleagues' amendments today forcing this administration into policies that actually help family farmers?

The tariffs have sent our trading partners to other markets, perhaps never to come back.

Let's talk about the domestic markets that we could be expanding into in this country, like year-round E15. However, are we taking a vote on year-round E15 today? No, because my Republican colleagues cannot even get themselves pulled together.

Mr. Chairman, if we are going to talk about helping farmers' bottom line, this bill and this amendment do nothing to help them. We are going to be right back where we are 1 year from now asking what is going to save family farms if we pass this version of a farm bill. This amendment does absolutely nothing to help anyone.

When we think about this farm bill, we think about the $187 billion in cuts to the SNAP program. That is $25 billion, Mr. Chair, directly to farmers' bottom line.

Do you know what else is $25 billion so far, according to the Secretary of Defense? The war in Iran has cost $25 billion. We are here talking about a skinny farm bill that adds no cost to anything when we just spent in the last 60 days $25 billion on a war in Iran that no one wants.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment is terrible, not to mention the critical role of the Clean Air Act in making sure that the health and safety of Americans across this country is secure.

Do you know why Brazil is getting all our business? It is because they are cutting down the rainforest, and they are planting our commodities, our business.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, my beautiful congressional district in Minnesota is 40 percent covered in corn and soybeans every single summer, and right now those farmers have nowhere to sell their crops.

Why is that? It is because we have systematically, under this administration's policies, created a situation where there are no export markets.

Mr. Chair, I don't know where we are talking to family farmers, but the ones that I talk to, their input costs are so high, and that is being driven by bad policy. Their input costs are high because fertilizer costs are out of control, and apparently the administration doesn't even know how much farmers have already secured their fertilizer.

It is just nonsense what the Secretary of Agriculture said about, no, they have already bought their fertilizer, so this doesn't matter whatsoever.

What about diesel costs? We know that farmers are facing a loss. Instead of standing here today and talking about more farm relief because of the bad policies of this administration, the Farm Bureau says that our farmers have lost $54 billion in the last year, and the administration offers $12 billion in relief, a small fraction of what is needed.

We had an amendment--it wasn't made in order--$17 billion in additional relief to our family farmers, but this administration doesn't want to do that. They want to keep promising the world and telling the farmers that they love them, and then doing absolutely nothing to help our family farmers. E15 is a good example. We could expand our domestic markets in this country today, but, no, we said-- Lucy with the football again on E15--we are going to take it away, and, oh, we will come back in 2 more weeks. Reporting is that they are going to change the bill at this point.

If you want to change the bill, change it back to my bill that would allow for year-round E15 that actually would save money. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Chair, I will say it is great news. It is good news. We got a new date. We are going to get a vote on year-round E15 on May 13. That is terrific news, Mr. Chair.

I remember, though, that there was a partisan working group put together earlier this year, and we were supposed to get a deal by February 15. Then, it was supposed to be on the floor by February 25.

Mr. Chair, I would say, forgive my skepticism, but this certainly looks like every time we have a deal for a vote on year-round E15, there is an uprising in the Republican Conference and somehow my Republican colleagues from Midwest States, where farm bankruptcies are up 70 percent this year, get rolled.

Mr. Chair, I remind my colleague from the other side of the aisle that everybody here is running for election to something in the next election cycle, so I clearly don't understand why it is being raised what I am running for--except the people retiring from the Republican Conference in record numbers who are not seeking reelection.

Currently, the vote on the farm bill, I remind us all, can't go to the Senate. The farm bill cannot go to the Senate without a vote on E15.

Although I remain skeptical that anything is going to go smoothly in that Conference, I hope that we do get our long-awaited vote on year- round E15. The last time E15 year-round passed was 2022, and Democrats were in the majority when it passed the House.

Mr. Chair, finally, I hope that Republicans can get their act together, figure out a path forward, and give us a vote on year-round E15.

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, it is extremely important to support a regulated, safe supply of honey products in the United States. While I believe we can move forward on testing and creating a more consistent market, the complete exclusion of testing in some of our most reliable trade partners is an issue in this text.

I believe there is a compromise between better testing and creating rifts between trusted exporters.

I look forward to working with the Congressman on honey regulation through the FDA, but I will have to vote ``no'' on this amendment today.

Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, again, with respect to this amendment, I do believe there is a compromise between better testing and creating rifts between our trusted exporters. The minority would be happy to work with the majority and the Congressman on honey regulation through FDA, but we don't believe that this is the answer.

Mr. Chair, many of us were here pretty much all night last night, and what was interesting on the House floor during that time is after hours of delay in actually starting general debate on the farm bill, both sides of the Republican Party, both factions in the Republican Party who were negotiating for and against E15, came back claiming victory. I am just raising this issue because I personally witnessed both sides saying that they had a gentleman's agreement to bring E15 to the floor and not to bring E15 to the floor. I would just caution my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who believe that there is a deal to get E15 to the floor that there are some antics and tricks related to going back to the Rules Committee that folks may be planning.

At the end of the day, unfortunately, Republican leadership has a history of promising something different to a number of different factions within the Republican Party. I mean, hell, the Democrats over here, you don't need us to be your adversary because you are your own worst enemies these days. We just sort of pop the popcorn and watch this stuff happen.

But as this happens, I am not rooting for you all to be at war with each other. I am rooting for good public policy in this country. Year- round E15 is not getting a vote today. To me it is a really sad day when the Republican Conference can't vote for a commonsense bill that is going to lower the cost of gasoline at a time when the war in Iran is driving up gas prices.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. CRAIG. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Ms. CRAIG. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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Ms. CRAIG. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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