Protecting Our Nation’s Food Supply
The vulnerability of our nation’s food supply chain is plaguing every single community across America. Our producers and our consumers are struggling to keep up with rising costs and supply chain delays.
As a farmer, I understand firsthand the challenges rural communities and our region’s producers are facing. From supply chain disruptions impacting our ability to purchase fertilizers to skyrocketing fuel costs making it more difficult to keep our farms running, our farmers’ livelihoods are at risk. And I continue to hear from my constituents and consumers that rising costs are straining their budgets, and food shortages and delays at the grocery store are posing a serious threat.
Since June 2021, prices have risen at least 5 percent every month. And this year, prices have risen at least 7 percent for five consecutive months. The current state of affairs under this administration is, in a word, dire.
I’m not an alarmist, but when I look around at the decisions being made by our leaders under one-party Democrat rule, I’m concerned. As a farmer, you learn to be flexible and resilient to the changes around you in the weather, the markets, and the input costs, but the decisions being made under this administration are pushing our producers to their limits. Let me be clear: I grew up working this land and I will never stop fighting for our way of life. That’s why I have been championing efforts in Congress to secure our food supply chain, from start to finish.
Most farmers would agree that the number one issue they face is the lack of labor. Crops don’t harvest themselves, and thanks to the Biden Administration’s hypocritical border policies, legal farmworkers are being denied entry even as illegal immigrants are being shuttled across our border. At the same time, perfectly good crops are at risk of rotting in the field while Americans go hungry. This nonsensical policy is a slap in the face to producers across the country who are struggling to find workers—it’s clear that we need reform, and we need it now.
That’s where the Farm Workforce Modernization Act comes in. This legislation would secure a legal, and reliable, workforce for all of agriculture by revitalizing our H-2A program and successfully passed through the House last year. Now, it’s up to the Senate to take up the bill and bring certainty to our farmers and farmworkers.
Aside from labor shortages, farmers are also facing uncertainty when it comes to their ability to even work their land in the first place thanks to the overreaching Obama-era “waters of the United States” or WOTUS regulations that threaten their water rights. As the Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, I lead 75 Members of Congress from across the country in advocating for rural America, and I am proud to have led over 200 House Republicans—including every Member of the Western Caucus—in calling for the Biden Administration to drop its plan to expand the scope of WOTUS.
In Central Washington, farmers face additional uncertainties thanks to the far-Left’s ideological attack on our Lower Snake River Dams. These dams provide so much for Central Washington agriculture, from efficient transportation to vital irrigation for our crops, and breaching these dams would threaten the existence of 1,100 farms in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. I’ve introduced legislation to protect our hydroelectric dams from being breached and am fighting back against this administration’s policies that attack our Lower Snake River Dams.
I am also working to improve federal forest management and fire mitigation efforts to better protect Central Washington from the devastating impacts of catastrophic wildfires and have secured funding for important research into the effects of smoke taint on our crops. And just this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the rollout of funds for commodity and specialty crop producers impacted by 2020 and 2021 natural disasters. This rollout is the funding of legislation I passed, the WHIP+ Reauthorization Act.
While it’s clear our farmers are facing domestic challenges, it doesn’t end there. A 2018 report from USDA’s Economic Research Service has found that Chinese investment in the agricultural sector has grown tenfold in the last decade. The People’s Republic of China, controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is not our ally, and the U.S. cannot become dependent on them for our domestic agriculture and food supply. We must ensure the U.S. food supply chain is secure and independent, which is why I introduced an amendment during last year’s Appropriations Markup to prohibit the purchase of agricultural land by China.
Farmers are not strangers to difficulty—we have faced similar challenges in the past, and yet we still have stepped up to the plate to feed our country and the world. These challenges remain and we will continue to face them—but we cannot do it alone. We need to implement policies that boost domestic production of energy and food, protect our vital resources, keep food grown in the United States, and keep the grocery store shelves stocked. Enacting policies that support our domestic food supply chain will ensure that the American people can pay lower prices and face more certainty when they head to the grocery store.
I will never stop advocating for our Central Washington communities, including for our agricultural community and the important role that it plays. I am committed to continuing my work on legislation and solutions that will actually help the American people and further secure our nation’s food supply.