Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2027

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the budget resolution.

This resolution includes $12 billion for our agricultural producers. As chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, I know exactly how vital the health of farm country is to our rural communities and our national food security.

The provisions in last summer's Working Families Tax Cut Act provide a much-needed, long-term solution by bolstering the farm safety net, but until those provisions are fully implemented, we will need to help those who feed and clothe us with short-term assistance.

Additionally, producers across the country have fallen to the whims of the weather and will need assistance until they can get back on their feet.

Just as one example, specialty crop producers in my home State of Pennsylvania are experiencing never-before-seen losses due to a late season freeze that wiped out almost entire fruit crops. These sustained losses have plagued producers across the country.

American producers are currently staring down the barrel of $80 billion in uncovered farm losses since 2023. That is even with the commodity program payments and the Farmer Bridge Assistance program that President Trump initiated last fall. In total, American producers have seen $119 billion in farm losses since 2023.

Additional aid is needed to bring our farm economy back to an equilibrium until the updates from the Working Families Tax Cut Act kick in. Policies put forth in the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, which the House of Representatives passed in April, will also restore certainty to the farm economy, but our producers need relief now.

President Trump answered the call with his recent supplemental request, and I look forward to working with my committee members and the Conference to hear their priorities as we move through the budget reconciliation process.

I appreciate Chairman Arrington for hearing the needs of farmers, ranchers, and foresters in rural America, actually hearing the needs of our great country. When it comes to the agriculture space, if you vote against this bill, you are really voting for food insecurity which leads to national insecurity.

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