Conference Report on H.R. 2642, Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2014
Floor Speech
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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this conference committee report. There are a lot of reasons why, but first I would like to commend the chairman and the ranking members of both the House and the Senate Ag Committees and my fellow conferees and the staff for all the hard work that went into reaching this agreement.
While this is not a perfect bill--there never is--this agreement is the result of more than 4 years of bipartisan negotiations, two marathon committee meeting markups, multiple floor debates. As a matter of fact, this bill almost reminds me of the movie ``Groundhog Day'' because it seems to come back again and again.
For my home State of California, the leading agricultural State in the Nation, this farm bill is a dramatic investment in many of the specialty crops for research, for market production and the development programs which benefit our vegetable and fruit producers, which produce over half the Nation's supply.
These programs not only help my constituents produce the safest and most nutritious fruits and vegetables that we eat throughout the Nation, but also throughout the world.
Just as important for my district are the disaster relief programs that help farmers, ranchers, dairymen, and producers through these difficult times. Many may not be aware, but California is facing the driest year on record, which jeopardizes both food production and jobs in my district.
This bill contains programs that provide help when disaster strikes, from drilling wells to providing seed or direct assistance to growers or cattlemen who have been hurt by this devastating drought.
While I support the conference committee report, I am disappointed that we did not take the opportunity to resolve the meat labeling issues that threaten our beef and poultry producers, and our important trading partners, Canada and Mexico, who are deemed critical and are dealing with us in the World Trade Organization. I have currently drafted legislation on a bipartisan basis to try to fix this labeling issue once and for all.
This debate, though, has dragged on for way too long. Let's give farmers and ranchers and dairy producers the certainty that they deserve through a 5-year farm bill. Now is the time to get this farm bill done by passing this conference committee report.
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