U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, delivered the following opening statement at the Agriculture Committee hearing: Increasing Domestic Consumption of U.S.-Grown Agricultural Products.
A rough transcript of Klobuchar’s full opening statement is available below and a video can be downloaded here.
Ranking Member Klobuchar: Mr. Chairman, and thank you for holding this important hearing this afternoon, whether a farmer grows corn and soybeans or blueberries and apples, our farmers need domestic marketing opportunities to stimulate growth throughout our country.
They need it now, now more than ever, as you pointed out, Mr. Chairman. A few ideas I toss out there. One is E-15, making that permanent and year round. There is bipartisan support for this, and I want to thank Senator Fischer and Duckworth and so many others who have worked on this issue. We need to get it done. A bipartisan farm bill seems to me a vehicle where we can get it done, but there may be others as well.
We can also expand domestic opportunities by investing in local markets, by purchasing fresh produce and meat from small and mid-sized farmers. We can support local supply chains and families. I was frustrated to see the administration cancel the popular local food purchasing assistance program last year, and I hope that we can reinstate this investment. We can also invest in organic agriculture, expand support for rural businesses, and invest in research, develop new revenue streams for farmers.
Source : senate.gov