Farm, Nutrition, And Bioenergy Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

FARM, NUTRITION, AND BIOENERGY ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 27, 2007)

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, I would like to assure the gentleman from California that, as Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, I look forward to working with him.

The border issue, from a security standpoint, as you know, is a major issue. Customs and Border Patrol should have more training in this area. I look forward to joint hearings with the Agriculture Committee on this, and subsequent to the findings of those hearings, look forward to strengthening our borders.

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I must express my reservations to using the farm bill as a legislative vehicle to transfer agriculture import inspectors from the Department of Homeland Security to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Congress, in March of 2003 consolidated and transferred critical responsibility for inspections of passenger and agricultural commodities from USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Since the transfer of APHIS inspectors to DHS, DHS had dedicated considerable resources to enhancing agriculture inspections to protect the nation from economically devastating agricultural pests and diseases. I agree that the Department of Homeland Security, especially Customs and Border Protection, must improve its training.

While DHS has experienced some challenges in implementing this enhanced inspection regime, those challenges are not insurmountable. As a former Agriculture Committee Member and representing many agriculture interests, I am very concerned about any breaches at the border, including foreign pest and prohibited agricultural products.

Though DHS carries out the inspections, USDA maintains the responsibility for establishing the regulations, guidelines, and even the training that govern the import of agricultural products. Thus, it is important to note that the success or failure of the program requires both DHS and USDA coordinated efforts.

Transferring employees at this time would divert attention from the real mission, delay any efforts to identify needed improvements, and set the program back for another several years while yet another readjustment occurs for both USDA and DHS. A far better approach than another disruptive, time-consuming transfer of thousands of employees would be for USDA and DHS to commit to conducting a thorough analysis of the program's performance, agree to a specific action plan for improvements, and to set clear and measurable goals.

Mr. Chairman and Mr. Cardoza, I am committed to working with you on this issue and would like to hold a joint hearing on this matter. I thank the gentleman for raising this important issue and look forward to working with you and Chairman Peterson immediately on this issue.

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