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These issues affect every community and every congressional district in this nation, and so the member day hearing serves as an opportunity for our colleagues to present testimony to the Agriculture Committee on the issues that are most important to their constituents. I thank our colleagues for taking the time to share their priorities as they relate to this committee's jurisdiction. My hope is that my Republican colleagues on this committee, who have a responsibility to act as a check on the executive branch and to serve the people who elected them to office, will listen and take their priorities to heart. It has become crystal clear that the White House is not listening to farmers or families right now, and that many of our Republican colleagues, sadly, are not speaking up. An idiotic trade war, Band-Aid relief programs that pick winners and losers in the ag economy, Nonstop lies and misinformation about SNAP, pretending that there is no affordability crisis, rural hospitals closing, healthcare costs everywhere going up.
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The Honorable Harriet Hageman
Instead of admitting that tariffs are increasing costs for all Americans, shutting farmers out of markets that took years and billions of dollars to develop, and making food more expensive for American families, the administration has prioritized rushing a $40 billion bailout to Argentina. Instead of ending the trade war that has contributed to increasing farm bankruptcies this year compared to recent years and cost farmers nearly $30 billion in losses, the Trump administration announces a farm aid package for row crops that fails to meet the moment of helping American farmers after a challenging crop year, particularly leaving specialty crop growers, sugar producers, and foresters out in the cold. Day after day, week after week, at press conferences, during TV interviews, and in cabinet meetings, President Trump and his administration make clear that they are not hearing the American people who are telling us, help us, life is getting too expensive. Health care costs are going up in America's heartland. Rural hospitals and clinics are closing because of the big ugly bills, $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts. Insurance premiums are skyrocketing due to the ACA tax credits expiring, which nearly 30% of farmers and ranchers themselves rely on for health care. Farmers are drowning in debt as input costs remain high and trade wars cost them their biggest customers Hungry seniors and children are getting less to eat because of non-stop attacks on food assistance Our committee can do something about that. We can bring sanity back to our trade policy we can make sure that basic needs programs whether in rural health or food affordability are are there for hardworking Americans when we need them, instead of helping the President cut the heart out of these programs.
We can show the American people, the people who sent us to Washington, that we hear them, and we are doing something about the current affordability crisis, if my colleagues in the majority could find the courage. I look forward to hearing from our colleagues about their priorities today, and thank you.
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The Honorable Harriet Hageman
The chair would request other members submit their opening statements for the record so our colleagues may begin their testimony. I'd like to welcome our colleagues who have joined us today to provide testimony on issues important to their congressional districts. We have a bipartisan list of members testifying today, and each member will be recognized for five minutes. And I'm pleased now to recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Gonzalez, for five minutes.
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The Honorable Vicente Gonzalez
Thank you Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member Craig for holding this morning's hearing and giving us an opportunity to advocate for our district. I represent the 34th District of Texas in South Texas, and I want to talk about some of the impacts on our region. Earlier this year, Republicans enacted a bill that cut nearly $200 billion from SNAP, the largest cut of SNAP in American history. As Americans are struggling with inflated grocery costs and skyrocketing health care prices, taking food assistance away is really cruel. I represent a district that over a quarter of households are recipients of SNAP, the highest of all districts in the state of Texas. And this isn't specific to, this is really a bipartisan issue. 75 of the poorest districts in America are represented by Republicans who also benefit greatly from this program. What this cut will do is force families and children and senior citizens and veterans to go hungry. I urge this committee to work in a bipartisan manner to correct this wrong imposed by the Republican Big Bad Bill. I would be happy to work with any of you on this issue. Another issue I want to talk about that's specific to the Gulf Coast, the entire Gulf Coast in my district, is I'd like to take a moment to talk about the shrimping industry. In that order, first, our domestic shrimpers have really been hurt. and experience economic hardships by increased foreign shrimp imports, fuel price increases, labor shortages, and immigration regulations. As a result, the South Texas shrimping industry and the shrimping industry across the Gulf Coast is in peril. We're losing the American fishing industry to the disadvantage that they have competing with foreign and farm-raised seafood.
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The Honorable Vicente Gonzalez
We should work hard. When we talk about America first, let's also talk about American fishing industry, which is really shuddering. We've lost about half of it in the last, I think, decade. Hundreds of boats are sitting on the docks. Many of them are being sold to other countries because they cannot compete in today's markets. The federal government must do more to protect the shrimping industry and the fishing industry. I urge the committee to allow commercial shrimpers to access agriculture safety net programs and increase FDA inspections and provide resources to allow the USDA to purchase domestic seafood and distribute them to our schools and local food banks. The next issue I want to touch on is the New World Screw Worm, known as the New World Screw Worm. As it inches closer to the border of Texas, we're really concerned this could be devastating for the ranching economy, not only in Texas but across the country. I know for a fact, I've been monitoring this since the issue was on the border of Mexico and Guatemala.
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