Statement : Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

After removing rescissions, the Agriculture bill provides a total funding level so insufficient that it was last seen in 2006. It is a sham proposal built on $8 billion in alleged savings that will likely not be available next year. The cuts in the bill are harmful, including slashing the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program by $500 million, cutting the Renewable Energy for America Program by $500 million, gutting investments in rural electric co-ops for clean energy and energy efficiency by $3.25 billion, eliminating loans that serve as a financial lifeline that has already helped more than 20,000 distressed farmers from keeping hardworking farmers from going into foreclosure, it’s an issue that is relevant to rural farmers, and taking food out of the mouths of veterans, children, seniors, and people with disabilities who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

"The American people depend on a strong FDA. And while not a perfect agency, the FDA’s programs must be fully funded to ensure the health and safety of the American people. Anything less puts lives at risk."

"The CFTC is a steward of both American markets and American taxpayers' dollars. With one of the smaller budgets among independent agencies, the CFTC is responsible for regulating a massive financial market. In June 2022, the Bank for International Settlements estimated that global derivatives markets had a $632 trillion notional value—that is trillion with a 'T'—while the CFTC received a total of $365 million in FY23 appropriations. The CFTC is also the only U.S. financial regulator that does not impose user fees on market participants, which further demonstrates the huge return that the American people get on their investment in the agency."