Budget Hearing - U.S. Department of Agriculture
2025-05-07
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Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
Now that we turned the lights down, we can get started. The subcommittee will come to order. Good morning. I want to thank all of you for being here today for this hearing to review the budget and programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We're pleased to be joined by the Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins. Secretary Rollins, we welcome you to the subcommittee. I look forward to hearing about your priorities and the work that's been underway at USDA during the first hundred days of the Trump administration. As you know, we have the most productive and efficient agricultural producers in the world. It's critical that they maintain access to important crop protection tools and technology so that they can continue to feed our nation and the world. They also need access to land, which is why I'm concerned about solar panels being placed on prime farmland not only in my district but across the country. My producers are very concerned by this, and I look forward to working with the administration to end tax subsidies and disincentivize such technologies so that we can keep fertile farmland in production. Madam Secretary, I want to commend you for your leadership in quickly implementing the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program. In December, Congress enacted $31 billion in disaster and economic relief for farmers and ranchers. Producers are applying for the $10 billion set aside for economic assistance, and payments are already being made. The speed at which USDA worked to make these funds available to farmers highlights this administration's emphasis that our government work in a better and more efficient manner for the American people. It also highlights your commitment to the backs of farmers and ranchers following several years of a poor agricultural economy. At the same time, USDA cannot take its foot off the gas in implementing the remaining $21 billion in disaster funds. Producers around the country faced devastating natural disasters in 2023 and 2024, from floods in California, persistent drought in many of the Great Plains states, and hurricanes across Florida and the southeastern United States. The subcommittee held a roundtable with USDA officials at the end of March to discuss implementing these disaster funds, and we're anxious to hear any updates on the next steps and timelines for delivering those funds to farmers.
I also appreciate your prioritizing USDA's response to the avian influenza outbreak, which began in 2022. This disaster has decimated poultry flocks across the country, including broiler flocks in my district in Maryland, and has spread to dairy cattle nationwide. You've directed additional funding towards combating the disease, and I look forward to an update on this evolving situation. As you know, poultry production is important in my district, and I appreciate you have already made great progress in reducing unnecessary burdens on the poultry industry by finally addressing line speeds at processing facilities. But the Biden administration also pushed harmful packers and stockyards regulations that dictate how poultry and livestock producers raise and market their animals, and I hope those rules will be addressed by the Trump administration. My district also includes the Chesapeake Bay, which has been devastated by invasive blue catfish. Congress has provided funding to increase processing capacity to develop a self-sustaining market for these invasive catfish. Processors in the Bay are lining up and eager to apply for this funding, so the USDA must move forward with the application process as quickly as possible. At the same time, processors have worked with the Agricultural Marketing Service to purchase more wild-caught catfish for the USDA nutrition programs. I'd ask specifically that you ensure that wild caught catfish are included in all the AMS solicitations equally with other seafood products. Another issue you and I have discussed, Madam Secretary, is that the federal government should not continue to subsidize unhealthy food in the supplement nutrition assistance program. Over the past 20 years, cities and states have asked USDA for the ability to restrict SNAP purchases of sugary drinks and unhealthy food, but each time, surprisingly, those requests have been denied. We must return SNAP, the largest food assistance and nutrition program in America, back to its original purpose of providing nutritious foods for participants. I'm glad to see the proactive steps you've taken to work with states on this, and I look forward to working with you to move the program in this direction.
Finally, on Friday, we received a high-level overview of the FY26 President's budget request. Several programs are marked for elimination or significant reductions. and I hope we'll receive a more detailed budget request as soon as possible. We need to understand the potential savings and efficiencies that have been identified at USDA as we move through our appropriations process. When this country is running a chronic $2 trillion deficit, we have a responsibility to spend every taxpayer dollar wisely. Again, I appreciate your being with us for today's discussion, Madam Secretary. Ranking Member Bishop, I'll now yield to you for any opening remarks you'd like to make.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Secretary Rollins, it is good to have you here with us today. I recognize that you have been very busy and have had some very urgent work to do, such as rolling out the congressional directives, including the much-awaited economic assistance of farmers and dealing with the Texas water issue. I want to thank you for coming before the committee today because I'm concerned that the administration appears to be operating outside the rule of law. pursuant to its Article I constitutional authority, Congress has passed laws establishing a process to repurpose funding and a process to conduct a legal reduction of force. Yet the administration has refused to follow the law and is in the process of dismembering the federal government and every single department without authority to do so. We see what's happening with the Department of Education, with FEMA, with HHS,
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