Ranking Member DeLauro Statement at the Full Committee Markup of the Fiscal Year 2027 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Funding Bill
WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the Committee's markup of the fiscal year 2027 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill:
Good morning to everyone. Good morning, Chairman. Thank you. I want to say a thank you to you, to Dr. Harris, and Ranking Member Bishop.
I also want to thank the subcommittee staff, to Martha Foley, Alex Swann, and Marie Gualtieri on the minority, and their counterparts on the majority, Pam Miller, Elizabeth Dent, Judd Gardner, and Nick Seelinger, as well, for their work.
I rise in opposition to the bill before us today. It will increase costs for American farmers; decrease aid for working families; and scale back our support for rural communities.
In 2025, nearly 7 million women, children, and infants received support through grocery vouchers provided under the WIC program. These are families who struggle to put food on the table, who are just trying to keep their heads above water as the cost of living and their grocery bills keep rising. This bill makes substantial cuts to this assistance, and by the way, there is an overall $200 million below 2026 to the WIC program. This bill makes cuts specifically to vouchers for fruits and vegetables. Denying women, infants, and children access to fruits and vegetables is hardly a way to make America healthy again.
In addition to providing assistance for families who need it, WIC supports the farmers and grocers who grow and sell the produce these vouchers can be used to buy. Cutting back on this aid will have a cascading economic effect that will reverberate throughout our communities.
WIC works. Multiple studies have found that WIC participation reduces the risk of adverse birth outcomes like premature birth or low birthweight, and it lowers infant mortality, and that it leads to healthier overall diets for young children.
Yet, this bill would prevent participants from enrolling or recertifying in the program remotely—I think this is the 21st century, we can do this remotely—by failing to extend this option beyond the September 30, 2026, deadline.
This option has proven to be critical in allowing more Americans to access these benefits, allowing working people to avoid transportation barriers and time off work. In some rural areas of the country, including many states with Republican members of Congress, there is not a readily accessible WIC clinic where individuals can go to enroll in person.
Virtual recertification is a proven process that eliminates these barriers to access for many people, allowing more efficient use of taxpayer dollars and making sure that people can put food on the table while maintaining the program’s integrity. The American people deserve programs that work to support them and do not impose unnecessary burdens. I don’t understand why people cannot recertify online.
This bill cuts the Food for Peace program by $300 million – a 25 percent cut compared to 2026. This not only deprives farmers of the additional revenue they can earn when they grow food to support the program, but it denies hungry children around the globe access to assistance they desperately need. My faith reminds me, in the 25th Chapter of Matthew, and I quote, “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” I can also quote Leviticus to set aside a share of the harvest for the poor. This bill turns a blind eye to our brothers and sisters who are suffering, and for what purpose?
More than 2.2 million Americans do not have access to basic plumbing and running water in their homes, and this problem is more pronounced in rural communities. Yet, this bill proposes cutting grant funding for waste and water development programs in rural communities by $62 million. Rather than alleviate the problem, the bill before us makes it worse, leaving more Americans without access to the basic necessities of life we should all expect in the United States.
This bill scales back loans under the Rural Energy for America program by 50 percent, while eliminating all grant funding. This program was created to help bring down energy costs for farmers, small businesses, rural communities. More than 25,000 projects have been funded through the program, helping people across all 50 states reduce their energy costs, and over two-thirds of grants have gone to Republican-led districts.
More than 25 percent of all REAP grant funding has gone to just 20 Congressional Districts. Eighteen of those districts are represented by Republicans, including all of the top 5 highest REAP grant recipients.
Iowa’s 2nd District – now represented by Representative Ashley Hinson – has received the most REAP funding, at more than $50 million. Minnesota’s 7th District received the second-most funding at more than $47 million. Minnesota-07 is represented by Representative Michelle Fischbach. Iowa’s 4th District has received the third-most funding with more than $40 million total. Iowa’s 4th is represented by Representative Randy Feenstra.
In 2025, out of 2,226 REAP awards, 1,752 for $372 million went to Republican districts. By contrast, only 465 went to Democratic districts for $169 million.
Despite this, the Republican bill we are considering today decimates the program, raising energy costs for their own constituents all across the country.
This bill cuts funding for ReConnect Broadband – a program designed to expand internet access in rural communities – by 20 percent. Broadband access is not a luxury; it is a necessity today. It drives economic growth by connecting people to the wider economy, including jobs and career training. It improves access to medical care, which is crucial when the nearest medical center may be an hour’s drive away, or more. And it expands educational opportunities, helping to ensure every child is equipped to succeed in the economy of the future.
This bill does nothing to further protect our infants and better ensure infant formula safety, even in the wake of the ByHeart Botulism outbreak that took regulators and parents by surprise just a few short months ago.
This bill leaves behind specialty crop, family, and small farmers while doing nothing to tackle the big agribusinesses that terrorize our farm economy and increase costs for the American consumer.
I find it very troubling that this bill does nothing to recognize the essential role FDA plays in the vaccine review process for approval and use by Americans. Prior to this administration, FDA followed longstanding good guidance practices related to vaccines, assessed scientific evidence in a transparent manner and adhered to the principles required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Earlier this year, the FDA refused to even review a flu vaccine developed using mRNA – which Secretary Kennedy has crusaded against for years because it was used to develop the COVID-19 vaccines. The FDA later reversed course, but only after facing a substantial backlash from the medical community, and the public writ large.
Last week, the FDA refused to approve a drug for advanced skin cancer, which Secretary Kennedy personally opposes, despite numerous cancer doctors attesting to the effectiveness of the treatment. FDA has been the gold standard for drug safety and efficacy, but I have serious concerns that under this administration, it is less focused on proven treatments and more attentive to Secretary Kennedy’s personal opinions.
Lastly, this bill still includes a litany of partisan policy riders. It eliminates protections for small meat and poultry producers – a gift to their larger corporate competitors, which the American Farm Bureau is opposed to.
It would encourage Americans to eat raw eggs that have not been properly stored, which increases the risk of foodborne illness. I do not understand the obsession among some of my friends across the aisle with giving themselves food poisoning as an expression of individual liberty, but to each their own, I suppose.
And lastly, the bill also brings back up partisan culture war provisions that have been stripped out of previous Ag-FDA bills, which discriminate against same sex couples.
In its current form, this bill raises costs for American farmers, takes food away from hungry families, cuts off support for rural communities, and loudly bangs the divisive culture-war drums once again. I encourage my colleagues to oppose this legislation and work with Democrats to fix the many serious problems it contains.
Thank you, and I yield back.
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