David Scott

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Schrier), my good friend.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 7606.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1170, I call up the bill (H.R. 7606) to establish the Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters within the Department of Agriculture, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record the cost estimate prepared by the Congressional Budget Office for H.R. 4374, the Broadband Internet Connections for Rural America Act. The cost estimate was not available at the time of the Committee report filing. U.S. Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Washington, DC, November 29, 2021. Hon. David Scott, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4374, the Broadband Internet Connections for Rural America Act. If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jon Sperl. Sincerely, Phillip L. Swagel, Director. Enclosure.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, this is indeed a very proud day and a proud moment for us here in the House of Representatives. This bill is going to help our agriculture industry, our deer, and a lot of our other animals. This chronic wasting disease has been so devastating. Ron Kind has been working on this for several years. He has not just jumped on this, he has dedicated a lot of his time to this, and it is a great monument to him as he leaves his service here in the Congress. Job well done, my friend. Job well done. Mr. Speaker, we have no more speakers. As we are concluding our four bills today, I am so proud of the great work that our House Agriculture Committee has done. We have them all moving over to the Senate, and so our work, again, begins anew as it goes over. We have good friends over there working. As I mentioned before, we are working with my colleague, Ms. Stabenow from Michigan, who is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee; and as I mentioned before, my friend, Senator Grassley. We are all going to come together and improve these four bills even more so. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Johnson. I want to thank Kim Schrier. I want to thank our entire committee. This has been a great day, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), who is the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5608. Chronic wasting disease is a devastating illness and has had significant impacts on deer and other cervid populations around our great Nation. And improving management of chronic wasting disease is vital to containing the disease and preventing further spread of the disease. Currently, there is no cure for the disease, and passage of this bill will also provide important research funding so that scientists can better understand the disease and their transmission. Mr. Speaker, it gives me a real special honor to recognize and say a word about the great sponsor of this bill--two great sponsors, I might add--Mr. Ron Kind, and Ranking Member G.T. Thompson, for their longtime dedication on this important issue. Both of these gentlemen have been working on this bill feverishly for quite some time. Mr. Speaker, it is also special because of Mr. Ron Kind, one of our stalwart leaders and tremendous contributors to the Congress and this Nation, and most certainly to his great State of Wisconsin. But we all have heard the news that our good friend, Mr. Kind, this will be his last year here with us, and he has dedicated so much of his time to this specific bill. He is a good man and a good friend, and he is also a good friend of my own brother-in-law, Hank Aaron. And he, in Wisconsin, who represents Eau Claire, played a very big role in getting that statue up there for my brother-in-law, Hank Aaron. He sent me a message when the Braves won the World Series. He said: David, Hank is up in heaven smiling now. I say to my friend: We are going to miss you. Great work here. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Again, I thank Mr. Johnson for the time he has put into this bill. The people of this country are very grateful, and we hope they realize how we here in Congress are really responding to the challenges facing our forestry, particularly with these wildfires. A while back I recognized some of my staff, but we have had an addition that I would like to recognize because he really worked feverishly on this bill all the way up until this morning, I understand, and that is Mr. Paul Babbitt. I would ask Paul to stand. Mr. Speaker, I thank him for his work. So much has already been said about this, but I am so proud of the efforts of our full House committee because once we really began to get into the ravages of these wildfires out West about a year back, we made a commitment that we were going to make sure that we did everything we can to save and prosper our great forestry industry, and we have done it. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this great bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Schrier), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in strong support of H.R. 4489. This bill is an excellent example, again, of the strong bipartisan work that can be accomplished through the Agriculture Committee. First, I want to applaud and thank the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Schrier) and the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa) for working together to get this legislation to the floor for consideration today by the full House. Mr. Speaker, we know that there are significant needs for investment in restoration and recovery work on our great national forests. Our bill this morning allows the Forest Service to keep interest on settlement funds and apply these additional resources to restoration work on Forest Service land that has been damaged by mining activities and wildfires. All of us know of the devastation that these wildfires have caused to our forests. This is one of several major responses that we here in Congress are responding to, to keep our forestry strong and to provide this much- needed financial help to keep interest on settlement funds and apply those additional resources to the restoration work and the Forest Service lands that were damaged by these terrible fires. It will also allow for more restoration work to be done in some of the areas where it is most needed, particularly the West Coast in California. It will allow this restoration work, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. First of all, I thank the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson) for his dedication, hard work, and talent in putting forward this bill. I believe that our ranchers, farmers, and those in the agriculture industry are looking at a great day for agriculture today to get these four important bills over to the Senate, where we will be working together on them. Mr. Speaker, again, I thank Mr. Johnson, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5609. One of my goals, Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, is to ensure that our farmers and our ranchers are treated fairly. This bill, which creates a cattle contract library, will improve fairness through increasing transparency in the marketplaces. Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, we have seen significant volatility in our cattle markets, and the Agriculture Committee has held hearings to discuss this volatility and the events that precipitated those price fluctuations. As we look for ways to bring about parity to cattle markets, this bill is one good step in that right direction. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend, Mr. Johnson, for his work on this bill. This is a good reminder, another reminder, of the great bipartisan legislation that is possible when we Democrats and Republicans work together to address important issues. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Johnson, for putting this bill forward. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5609) to amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, to establish a cattle contract library, and for other purposes.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I will just close right briefly with a big thank you to my great staff, which is headed by the distinguished, smart, and dedicated Anne Simmons. I don't know what I would do without her. Of course, Ashley Smith, Prescott Martin, Daniel Feingold, Lesly McNitt, Kelcy Schaunaman, and also my chief of staff, Catherine Kuerbitz. We are a team, and I want to thank our staff. Also, I want to thank our ranking member. We work together in a bipartisan way. This is an example of how we Democrats and Republicans have got to continue to do. We are here today setting this fine example of strong bipartisanship. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5290) to extend authorization for livestock mandatory reporting.