K. Conaway

Mr. CONAWAY

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, more commonly known as the farm bill. I do so, proudly, because I still believe that rural America and our farm and ranch familles are the backbone of this country. Our farmers and ranchers ensure that Americans across this great country pay the lowest grocery bills in the world. They also hand us a rare trade surplus, while creating 21 million American jobs. In the heartland, agriculture is the lifeblood of the economy. When agriculture does well, Main Street does well; and when agriculture is suffering, so is Main Street. But beyond the economic contributions, rural America and our Nation's farmers and ranchers are imbued with the values that I cherish deeply: the values of faith, family, God, country, and duty; of neighbor helping neighbor, hard work, and personal responsibility. In short, Mr. Chairman, rural America and our Nation's farmers and ranchers make America great. I expect that is why the President of the United States strongly supports this farm bill and urges passage. Times are not good right now in the heartland. Our Nation's farmers and ranchers are struggling in the midst of a 5-year recession, with no end in sight. Net farm income has been cut in half over this period of time. As a result, rural America is not partaking in the economic recovery that urban counterparts are experiencing. There are many reasons behind the hard times in farm and ranch country. I will briefly discuss two. In my hometown of Midland, Texas, we have received 1 inch of rain over the last 195 days. Drought is ravaging my State. Last year, we saw record losses due to hurricanes and wildfires. And to the north, in the ranking member's home State, farmers are struggling to get into the fields to plant, although it is the middle of May. The fact is the men and women who clothe and feed us in a manner that is absolutely unrivaled in world history are the ones hit hardest and first by Mother Nature. A second reason for the current condition is another factor totally beyond the control of our farm and ranch families: the predatory trade practices of foreign countries. For the sake of brevity, I will offer just one example. In just 1 year, China oversubsidized just three crops by more than $1 billion. To put that in perspective, the entire safety net for all of our farmers and ranchers under this farm bill is expected to cost just 64 percent of the amount China spent on illegal subsidies in just 1 year on just three crops. Mr. Chairman, the global market is awash with high and rising foreign subsidies, tariffs, and nontariff trade barriers, and these are hurting American farmers and ranchers. So what do we do about that? We heed the call of the President of the United States and the Secretary of Agriculture to pass this farm bill. No, this farm bill is not a cure for all that ails rural America and our farmers and ranchers, but this farm bill does provide a safety net to see them through the hard times. For my colleagues interested in the budgetary impacts of this farm bill, H.R. 2 keeps faith with taxpayers, with CBO now projecting more than $112 billion in savings, nearly five times what was pledged back in 2014. There are many other aspects of this farm bill, but I will just briefly touch on three. First, Secretary Perdue has shown great leadership on two particular issues that are extremely important to rural America: the opioid epidemic that is ravaging rural America needs an aggressive, effective response, and the lack of broadband in many parts of rural America puts farmers and ranchers in rural communities at a terrible disadvantage. The Secretary is determined to tackle these problems and has asked for the tools he needs to make it happen. This farm bill provides those tools. Second, it is no secret that we do not have a bipartisan farm bill process at this moment, and that I deeply regret. Ultimately, Democrats and Republicans chose to agree to disagree on the question of whether work-capable adults should work or get free job training for 20 hours per week in order to be eligible for SNAP. I respect my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but I do want to be clear about something: This farm bill in no way, shape, or form disrespects Americans who depend on SNAP. To the contrary, the farm bill keeps faith with SNAP beneficiaries, providing needed benefits and something more--the dignity that comes with work and the promise of a better life that a job brings. I want these Americans to realize the American Dream. Finally, in closing, I want to note that there is a cottage industry in this town that is determined to defeat this farm bill. They want this House to ignore the realities of Mother Nature and the predatory trade practices of foreign countries and turn our back on farm and ranch families struggling to hang on in the face of these hard times. Mr. Chairman, that should not happen on our watch. I urge my colleagues to stand by the hardworking families that put food on our tables and clothes on our backs and still live every day by the values that made this country truly great. Let's stand up for rural America. Let's pass this farm bill. I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture, Washington, DC, April 30, 2018. Hon. Rob Bishop, Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Bishop: I appreciate your support in bringing this legislation before the House of Representatives, and accordingly, understand that the Committee on Natural Resources will forego action on the bill. The Committee on Agriculture concurs in the mutual understanding that by foregoing consideration of the bill at this time, the Committee on Natural Resources does not waive any jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in this bill or similar legislation in the future. In addition, should a conference on this bill be necessary, I would support your request to have the Committee on Natural Resources represented on the conference committee. I will insert copies of this exchange in the Congressional Record during Floor consideration. I appreciate your cooperation regarding this legislation and look forward to continuing to work the Committee on Natural Resources as this bill moves through the legislative process. Sincerely, K. Michael Conaway, Chairman.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I would simply say for the record that all of the bill was negotiated--except for the SNAP title--in good faith with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Not once did they mention anything on many of these issues that were just brought up, but we did have an agreement on those non-SNAP titles. It was a SNAP title, quite frankly, that caused the rift. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), my colleague, the chairman of the Nutrition Subcommittee.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chair, I would like to recognize the fact that this brand-spanking-new program that never had any funding is authorized in the bill for discretionary spending to create the scholarship program that has just been referenced. There was no money taken out of the bill, because there was never any money in the program. We simply recognized the need and we set that program up in place as a direct result of the gentleman's passionate plea for a scholarship program. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King).

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost).

Mr. CONAWAY

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Rouzer).

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield the gentleman from North Carolina an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), who is a valued member of the committee.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield the gentleman from Florida an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer).

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time remains on each side.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen).

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Mrs. Roby).

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Austin Scott), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Crawford), the chairman of the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, how much time is remaining on each side.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to clarify the Record. Of the 265,000 children that have been mentioned a couple of times, 95 percent of them would in fact maintain access to reduced lunch prices because their families make too much money to qualify for the free lunch, but 5 percent of that 265,000 would in fact maintain the free lunch program as it currently exists. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis), chairman of the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Young).

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas), the former chairman of the committee.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I, too, am saddened by the loss of the bipartisan work that we have typically done on this committee. I have bragged about being one of the few bipartisan committees in Congress back home a lot, and it is sad. Just as the ranking member just said, that his side refused to negotiate any changes to SNAP, I simply said: Work requirements-- strengthening the work requirements is going to have to be a part of what we do. And that was where we are with respect to that. What I heard over and over and over again on the other side is that the non-SNAP portions of the farm bill, while maybe less than they would like to have, are nevertheless essential and vital, and I am looking forward to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle working as diligently as they can to defeat all of those poison pill amendments that will have to be offered over the next several days so that we can maintain that safety net for production in agriculture that they need and deserve without the legislative history of a loss on this floor that is totally unnecessary. So I am hopeful that my colleagues over there will be a part of that. Mr. Chairman, the entire State of California is under a work waiver so that no one in California has to work to be able to stay on food stamps. That doesn't make any sense to me when you have got an unemployment rate of 4 percent across this country. So something has to change in that regard. What I have heard over and over, not only today but throughout this debate, is folks from the other side, they are full out, full throttle in favor of work requirements, couldn't be more supportive of work requirements--just not these. Over and over and over, they are full out in favor. We have got a legislative history of all of my colleagues on the other side talking about how important it is for job training, for education, for getting folks the skills and tools they need to be able to have meaningful work--just not these. Got it. My ranking member had a letter from his folks that said not to negotiate on SNAP. I took him at his word on that in regard. It is disappointing that we have reached this point. But we are at that point. We now have a bill before us that does make meaningful reforms to the work requirements under food stamps, that does not touch the working poor. Folks who are willing to work 20 hours a week, no matter how long they are in that circumstance, we are going to be shoulder to shoulder with them to try to get the support they need. We are also trying to create a State-based State-run program in which the Federal taxpayer pays for work that the States can do on job training. There is no better spot to locate that than there because we cannot create a one-size-fits-all training program here in the United States House of Representatives. I trust our States to be able to do that. Those States have the capacity. They have the bandwidth to make that happen. Comments to the contrary are really misplaced. So, as we move forward through the rest of the debate, I would encourage my colleagues to join me in opposing all of those poison pill amendments that have been presented that would harm the non-SNAP portion of the farm bill and support the work that we have done so that, as my good colleague from Oklahoma just said, we can continue to move this process forward, understand what the Senate gets done, move to conference, and move a bill to the President's desk by September 30 so that farmers and ranchers across this country, who we are the most keen to support, have that certainty of what the next 5-year support system looks like. Right, wrong, or indifferent, they deserve that kind of assurance, that kind of confidence that they will have the farm program to back them up and their bankers are supported in that regard as well. So I am asking my colleagues to support H.R. 2 and fend off those poison pill amendments. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. CONAWAY

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Chairman, I move that the House do now rise.

Mr. CONAWAY

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Mineral Wells Airport as they celebrate their 75th Anniversary on May 19, 2018. Since 1943, the Mineral Wells Airport has been a major part of the community and has a long history of supporting our country in times of war. Originally established as Camp Wolters in 1925, the land that the airport now sits on was utilized as a training site for the 56th Brigade of the National Guard under the command of Brigadier General Jacob F. Wolters. During WWII, Camp Wolters expanded to include an airfield that trained pilots in the United States Army Air Force. The base became an instrumental post for the Army and trained thousands of troops to support the war efforts. During the Cold War, the base fell under the control of the United States Air Force and was renamed Wolters Air Force Base. The renamed installation became a training post for Aviation Engineers throughout the Korean War. In 1956, the base was reverted back to the Army and housed the United States Army Primary Helicopter School. The base was later re-designated as Fr. Wolters in 1963, where it continued training helicopter pilots until its deactivation in 1973. Since its deactivation, the airfield was converted for public use, which established Mineral Wells Airport. Over the years, the airport averages over 10,000 flights a year and has become a vital component of the local economy. The airport has developed a superb reputation and was even recognized as ``Airport of the Year'' in 2007 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The rich history of the Mineral Wells Airport has engrained itself into the identity of Palo Pinto County. I want to congratulate the airport on their anniversary and wish them continued success.

Mr. CONAWAY

Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the 93 Veterans from West Texas who will be visiting Washington, D.C. this week, sponsored by the Permian Basin Honor Flight. On behalf of a grateful state and nation, we welcome these heroes to the Nation's Capital. The Veteran on this Honor Flight are: Clinton Adams, Robert Allen, Audie Baker, Jaromir Bechyne, Paul Becker, Billy Brown, Floyd Burks, Billy Busby, Mario Castillo, Randal Chance, Floyd Chaney, Thomas Chapman, Walter Chorney, Walter Clarkson Jr., Charles Cotton, Walker Dunn, Jeffrey Durgin, Louis Fathree Jr., Jerry Flippin, Gilbert Flores, George Friday Jr., Richard Galloway, Wade Gamblin, Joseph Gassie, Johnny Griffis, Jesus Haro, Eddie Hatch, Pedro Hinojos, Herman Hooper, Joe Jackson, Fredrick Johnson, David Jones, Gene Jones, Velton Jones, Ralph Kennedy, Alfred Knapp, Clayton Kuhlmann, Conrad Lee, Walter Lewallen, Jerry Lewis, Terry Lowe, William Martin, Gary McGowan, William McKnight, Douglas Miller, Ricardo Molina, D. Moore III, Ramon Mota, Chritiaan Niessing Jr., Hector Olivias, Terry Penkert, James Poague II, Fredrico Ramierez, Andres Rios Jr., Gonzalo San Miguel Jr., Donald Satterfield, Robert Schoff Jr., Carl Selinger, Dennis Sever, Paul Singleterry, Floyd Smith, Tommy Smith, Albert Stanford, Jesus Tarin Jr., Michael Tarpley, William Taylor, James Washburn, Mark Webb, James Witcher Jr., Harold Wynne, William Young, Pablo Carrasco, Jimmy Boggs, Roy Proctor, Jerome Suriff, Bobby Welborn. Mr. Speaker, I am humbled to have the opportunity to meet these brave men and women who exemplify the best of our country. Their sacrifice and commitment to the duty to our nation can never be fully repaid, and I hope that when they visit our nation's monuments in Washington, D.C., the gratitude and respect we have for them will truly be reflected. Colleagues, please join me in thanking these veterans and their families for their exemplary dedication and service to this great nation. I would also like to extend a special thank you to the local communities, all of the volunteers, and Mr. Jeremy West and Mr. John West for their extensive work in organizing this Honor Flight. This trip would not have been possible without all the financial and emotional support of the people who have put in so much hard work and personal time to make sure this trip could be possible.