Dennis Cardoza

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of the bill. Mr. Chairman, I'm proud to stand with you, on the House floor, at this historic moment in the development of U.S. farm and food policy. For the first time in the history of the farm bill, this year our farm policies will put fruit and vegetable growers on an equal playing field with commodity farmers. Fruits and vegetables are a growing and important component of American agricultural output. In 2006, U.S. production of specialty crops--fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and nursery crops--accounted for $53 billion, or 44 percent of total U.S. crop receipts. The fruit and vegetable industry benefits from marketing, research, and educational programs, rather than traditional crop subsidies, to manage the challenges of increased global trade and foreign competition. These challenges include increasing domestic consumption, reviving export growth, aggressively managing food safety, and mitigating pest and disease problems. The 2007 Farm Bill addresses these challenges by providing $365 million in new mandatory funding for the specialty crop block grant program. Block grants are vital for ensuring that solutions to these myriad challenges are flexible and locally driven. This bill also responds to the pest and disease management needs of the specialty crop industry by establishing a comprehensive early pest detection and surveillance program. The bill provides $200 million in mandatory funding for this new program to work in cooperation with State departments of Agriculture. The needs of America's nurseries are addressed by directing USDA to collaborate with nursery industry organizations as it develops, tests, and disseminates new systems of nursery pest and disease management. It also establishes within USDA a program for a National clean plant network. This network will provide a sustainable source of pest and disease free horticulture stocks. Organic Agriculture This bill responds to the preferences of consumers across the United States by making an unprecedented investment in organic agriculture. Organic foods are the fastest growing sector of U.S. retail food sales--growing at approximately 20 percent annually over the past decade. In 2006 organic retail sales reached almost 3 percent of the entire United States food and beverage market. The 2007 Farm Bill recognizes growth in the organic food sector by expanding the assistance available to producers converting from conventional agriculture to organic production. To help with the transition the 2007 Farm bill provides $22 million in mandatory funding for the National Organic Certification Cost Share program. Organic farmers need reliable market information to assist them in production and marketing decisions. This bill does that by providing $3 million in mandatory funding for data collection on price, production volume, and other organic market characteristics. Most data currently collected by USDA is of little relevance to organic producers because it is collected without regard to the method of growing. The historic recognition of the horticulture and organic industries in the 2007 Farm Bill is an important accomplishment and sets American farm policy in a new direction for the 21st Century.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I object to the request to extend debate. As the gentleman from Washington knows, there will be another hour of debate on the bill and then 31 amendments. There is ample time to debate this bill, so I would have to object.

Mr. CARDOZA. Does the gentleman from Washington have any remaining speakers?

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?

Mr. CARDOZA. We object, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. CARDOZA. I would suggest that the other side knows a lot about Enron accounting, Mr. Speaker. But we also made three substantive commodity cut amendments in order: the Kind amendment, the Udall amendment, and the Davis amendment. Mr. Speaker, I would like to at this time yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch).

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 574 provides for consideration of H.R. 2419, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 under a structured rule. The rule provides for 1 hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture. The rule waives all points of order against the bill and its consideration except for those arising under clause 9 or clause 10 of rule XXI. The rule makes in order 31 amendments. Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Mr. Speaker, as the subcommittee chairman on the House Agriculture Committee, and as a member of the Rules Committee, I am pleased to offer this progressive Federal farm policy act for consideration today. Over the past year, the Agriculture Committee members have traveled across this country, from north to south, from east to west, hearing directly from farmers and ranchers about the state of agriculture in our country. Across rural America we have heard from farmers and ranchers from all walks of life talking about the promise of American agriculture, the immeasurable innovation and success and commitment to sustainable farming. The 2007 farm bill builds on past successes of Federal farm policy by providing a reliable safety net for commodity crops, expanding access to conservation programs, increasing participation in domestic nutrition programs, and, perhaps most of all, most near to my heart, this bill dwarfs any previous Federal investment in specialty crops, which account for nearly 50 percent of American agricultural production. Chairman Peterson, Ranking Member Goodlatte, and the entire Agriculture Committee were able to craft an equitable, fiscally sound farm bill that preserved the farm safety net while including critical funding for important new programs. Furthermore, the 2007 farm bill contains unprecedented reforms to payment limitations and crop insurance programs that will reduce waste, fraud, and abuse so often identified with the farm program. More importantly, this bill is completely paid for. During the past election, Democrats promised to live within our means like every household in America is forced to do and stop writing blank checks with reckless abandon. We pledged to exercise spending restraint to stop shouldering our Nation's needs on the backs of our children and grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that we were able to do exactly that. You will hear a lot of talk from the other side of the aisle about this bill raising taxes, but this is simply a scare tactic in an attempt to score political points. This is completely untrue. Let me set the record straight before we even begin. This bill does not raise taxes. The 2007 farm bill closes tax loopholes that just 5 years ago the Bush administration and its own Treasury Department identified as tax abuse. In a policy paper issued by the Office of Tax Policy in May of 2002, the Bush administration identified how corporations headquartered in tax havens use this loophole, and a June 18, 2002, New York Times article stated that Republicans in Congress also thought that this tax loophole needed to be fixed. These are the facts. Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I must take a moment to thank Chairman Peterson, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Hoyer, and the entire leadership team for their tenacity and sincerity in creating a farm bill that we can all be proud of and stand behind. Not everyone got everything they wanted, and, frankly, they shouldn't. The farm bill should never be a place to line up at the trough and recklessly suck up needed resources. In the end, while people didn't get everything they wanted, everyone got what they needed. That speaks volumes about the quality of this bill and tells me we ended up in exactly the right place. I have never been more proud of a piece of legislation, Mr. Speaker, and I look forward to telling my constituents in the 18th District of California that the United States Congress has accomplished what was thought to be an impossible feat. I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, a short response. I'd just like to say that if these folks were complying with Federal and State law, why are they sending their receipts through Caribbean islands? Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui).

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett), a member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kagen).

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind).

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. CARDOZA. I respect the gentleman from Washington, but we will have a significant amount of time in the discussion of the bill in chief.

Mr. CARDOZA. Would the gentleman like to take some of his time at this point?

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time we have remaining?

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 574 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I have stood here for the better part of an hour as we debated this rule, and I frankly cannot believe what I am hearing. It sounds to me like the Republican caucus of this body is actually considering voting against the thousands of farmers, their families, and the millions of people throughout this country that rely on farming for their livelihood in favor of a few wealthy international companies who are deliberately evading U.S. tax law and big oil companies that have been gouging Americans at the pump. The truth is that the Ways and Means Committee has taken the advice of the Bush administration and closed a loophole for tax cheats in order to pay for lifesaving nutrition programs for millions of Americans. This energy offset comes from reducing taxpayer subsidies for multinational oil and gas companies that have enjoyed a free ride from this Congress for far too long. The price of oil today in New York was $75 a barrel. Is that not enough for Americans to pay? So enough with this song and dance. This is about closing loopholes for tax cheats, a loophole that your Republican administration has been advocating. This is closing a loophole for tax cheats, a loophole that this administration has been advocating being closed for years, as it is reducing windfall profits for Big Oil. I urge my colleagues to make the right choice here and stop playing politics with the American public. We used to have a $30 billion trade surplus in agriculture. Like everything else, we are trading that away. If we aren't careful, we are going to become an importer of agricultural goods for the first time in the history of the United States. That won't happen on our watch. It's bad enough that countries like China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia are our bankers. Let us not make them our farmers, too. That is not the way this country was built, and I assure you this new Democratic Congress will not abandon our farm community. This is a once-in-a-lifetime bill that will meet our country's needs. Every major group, the commodities, the specialty crops, the nutrition groups, the conservationists and others support this bill. A ``yes'' vote on this rule and the underlying bill is a vote for the hungry, a vote for the environment, a vote for energy independence, but, most importantly, a vote to deliver on our long-standing commitment to rural America. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and on the previous question.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. I thank the chairman. I look forward to working with him. That is acceptable to us. We will work together as this bill goes to conference to see how we can better deal with this issue. My daughter Brittany is 13 years old, and my daughter Elaina is 10. They both have encouraged me to work on this. One knows that we have to try to abide by our children because they usually have the right take on what is right in the world. I thank the chairman for allowing me to work on this issue.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chairman, I intended to offer an amendment with regard to sea turtles. I would like to engage in that discussion for a bit. I will not offer that amendment; I would like to discuss it with the chairman of this Appropriations Committee. There are currently six species of sea turtles, the green, the hawksbill, the Kemp's Ridley, the leatherback, the loggerhead and the Olive Ridley sea turtle. All six are listed as threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Sea turtles face a range of threats from land and sea. Their nesting beaches are under constant attack from pollution, trash, debris, predators and vehicles driving on the dunes. Once out of the nest, sea turtle hatchlings use light cues to find the sea. Artificial lighting near the beach can disorient hatchlings, leading to dehydration and death. In the water, sea turtles face even more serious threats. Every year, thousands of sea turtles are injured or die after becoming entangled in discarded fishing gear and other marine debris, from ingesting plastic bags or oil and tar, from being crushed by dredges, and by being accidentally caught by U.S. commercial fishing operations. The latter is one of the most serious threats facing sea turtles. Sea turtles are accidentally caught in gill nets, trawls, long-lines and dredges, subjecting them to severe injury, crushing, or drowning. The U.S. Government authorizes commercial fisheries to kill nearly 10,000 sea turtles and harm another 334,000 each year. And that is only what is authorized, not what actually occurs. In addition, the government does not adequately take into account that when a sea turtle is injured, its swimming, hunting, and reproductive abilities may be severely impaired, further jeopardizing the population. Currently, approximately one in 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings survives to adulthood, one in 1,000. While they are long-lived, they also reach reproductive maturity late in life. Due to the many risks they face, however, relatively few sea turtles survive to maturity, and even fewer live to reproduce. In order for the sea turtle population to recover, we must do a better job monitoring the population and strengthen the necessary protective enforcement measures. The Cardoza-Hastings-Castor amendment was quite simple: it provided an additional $1 million for sea turtles under the Protective Species Research and Management account for the National Marine Fisheries Service. What I have done with the chairman is to request that the chairman work with us, and I would like to now yield to discuss with the chairman what we might do moving forward.

Mr. CARDOZA. Again we have worked with the chairman. There was an amendment that I was going to offer with regard to the CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, program. This is an issue I am very passionate about as two of my children are adopted. They were into the foster care system and into adoptive placement because of a CASA volunteer seeing the desperate situation they were both in. The current CASA funding only allows for 50 percent of the children who are under court supervision, under court custody to receive the assistance of a CASA volunteer. The program is underfunded. I had originally intended to fully increase this funding so that every child could have a child advocate and a CASA. That is not authorized under the authorization, so we have withdrawn the amendment at this time, but I will work with the gentleman in the future to make sure that we do the right authorizing legislation so this appropriation can be dealt with in the appropriate way in the future. I thank the gentleman for his advice and leadership in helping me work on this issue.