Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
Sam Farr (CA), Ranking Member
Rosa Delauro (CT)
Sanford Bishop (GA)
Chellie Pingree (ME)
Jurisdiction
Department of Agriculture (Except Forest Service)
Farm Credit Administration
Farm Credit System Financial Assistance Corporation
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Food and Drug Administration (HHS)
I would like to thank Chairman Aderholt and Ranking Member Farr and welcome Secretary Vilsack.
Mr. Secretary, your Department plays an important role in nutrition assistance for vulnerable populations, conservation efforts, rural community development, and research to combat climate change and improve crop yields. The range and scope of USDA's responsibilities is truly amazing.
Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), Ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, today issued the following statement on President Obama's FY 2015 budget request:
"The FY2015 budget and appropriations process offers Congress its best opportunity in years to reject the politics of brinkmanship and crisis management, and instead fulfill our responsibility to invest in our future, create and protect jobs, and support services on which American families rely.
"I commend President Obama for a budget request that keeps faith with discretionary spending levels set in the Bipartisan Budget Act, yet recognizes that the federal government can and must do more to achieve significant economic goals in research, education, manufacturing, and skills training. We must reject a single-minded focus on austerity, which has unnecessarily slowed our economic recovery while starving our economic future.
2013 enacted level: $20.7 billion
2014 Committee mark: $19.5 billion
2014 Omnibus: $20.9 billion
· $6.7 billion for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), sufficient to meet expected need in 2014.
· $1.47 billion for Food for Peace (P.L.480) grants, which is $33 million more than the 2013 enacted level. The agreement retains Senate language increasing flexibility in managing the Food for Peace program that seeks to reduce the need for monetization.
· $215 million for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is $10.1 million more than the 2013 enacted level.
· $2.55 billion for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is $96 million more than the 2013 enacted level.