Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2007

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

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Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to this amendment. Aquaculture is becoming a burgeoning industry in my State. Ohio aquaculture has grown 17 percent in the last year alone.

Ohio State University, Ohio's land grant university, has been conducting this vital research in my district to most importantly help Ohio's tobacco farmers transition to new crops, and that is important that we find ways for Ohio's tobacco farmers to transition to new crops or otherwise those farmers will find themselves unable to continue to be farmers in Ohio.

This funding is not just important to my district. It is essential to the aquacultural research in all of Ohio through a state-wide aquacultural extension program. This funding is well spent, and it produces real dividends for Ohio farmers. A few years ago I got to witness one of the farms that actually participated in this research, a tobacco farmer that now raises shrimp and is making money off raising shrimp in Ohio.

I am a conservative and a fiscal conservative, and I do not like to spend people's money, but I do understand the importance of this kind of economic research for Ohio's farmers and Ohio's folks.

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