Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
Membership
Rep. Sanford Bishop, Ranking Member
Rep. Rosa DeLauro
Rep. Chellie Pingree
Rep. Mark Pocan
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)
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This committee gives us all not only an intimate look into the operations of government, but in doing so it develops friendships among the committee members.
I first met Chairman Aderholt on a Mil Con codel to Bosnia and I like to think we bonded over that trip. His wife was pregnant at the time and now their daughter is a young woman.
I think all of us have had such bonding moments. That Mil Con codel was headed up by Dave Hobson. He and I remain good friends.
Being together in the trenches, whether it is on a codel or banging out legislative language for a bill, helps to build bridges across party lines and create respect for the office we hold and the institution we serve.
I believe our mission is to cultivate a smart, effective government, one that carries out the laws that Congress passes. So it is incumbent on us to pass smart, effective laws.
I thank Chairman Aderholt, Ranking Member Farr, and Chairman Rogers for their work on this bill.
Today, the Committee will mark up its second and third bill of the year. Meanwhile, after Republican Leadership maintained that the budget and appropriations process would return to regular order and adhere to last year’s bipartisan agreement, the House has not passed a budget, and it’s almost certain we never will.
We know why. The right-wing is threatening to renege on the bipartisan budget agreement, and rejects as insufficiently radical, a Republican budget resolution that would devastate good-paying jobs, end the Medicare guarantee, and increase poverty. The majority’s continued dysfunction jeopardizes this Committee’s ability to meet the challenges we face.
2017 mark: $21.3 billion
2017 request: $21.6 billion
2016 enacted: $21.75 billion
The Chairman’s mark provides:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the efforts of Chairman Rogers, Chairman Aderholt, and Ranking Member Farr in putting this bill together and holding this markup.
Despite the President's proposal more than four months ago to end sequestration through more reasonable and realistic budgeting, Republicans have yet to engage on finding a workable solution. This is the eleventh bill to be considered in subcommittee, and like its predecessors, it has no chance of being signed into law because it would shortchange vital investments that help hardworking American families.
For instance, the FDA would receive $116 million less than what it needs, preventing it from fully combating dangerous illnesses or overseeing our nation's food supply.
The Commodity Future Trading Commission is the quiet hero of America's fiscal stability. Since 1974, the CFTC has regulated the US agricultural commodity and other futures and options markets. For 36 years the CFTC executed its responsibilities while protecting investors from fraud, on a tiny budget. But with 2010 passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the CFTC's jurisdiction exploded nearly seven-fold from $37 trillion to $400 trillion.
Make no mistake about it. That increased jurisdiction was absolutely essential. The 2008 economic collapse was proof positive that our financial regulatory oversight failed Americans.
The unregulated swaps market helped concentrate risk in the financial system. That risk spilled over to the real economy. Eight million jobs were lost, millions of families lost their homes and thousands of small businesses had to lock their doors.