Farm Bill

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday, I was pleased to join my colleagues on the Senate Agriculture Committee to approve a landmark farm bill. Under the fair and bipartisan leadership of Chairman Pat Roberts, our committee has produced a bill that will bolster struggling agriculture communities across our country.

Speaking for my home State of Kentucky, agriculture is part of who we are. Kentucky farm families produce everything from poultry to soybeans. This legislation will assist them, encourage economic growth, and increase investment in rural communities.

This farm bill also includes a bipartisan provision I crafted with Senator Wyden to legalize industrial hemp. At present, with just a few limited exceptions, our Federal Government bans domestic hemp production--never mind that this is a completely different plant than its illicit cousin, and never mind that consumers are already buying hemp products, everything from clothing to auto parts; they are just imported from foreign producers. Federal law has mostly prohibited our own farmers from getting in on the action. It is time to remove the roadblocks and let American farmers explore this growing market.

This has long been a priority of mine. I championed hemp pilot programs in the 2014 farm bill. They have shown big success. It is time to take the next step.

Again, I would like to thank the chairman and ranking member of the committee for their leadership on this subject. I was pleased to join the overwhelming bipartisan majority who voted the farm bill out of committee yesterday morning, and I look forward to taking it up here on the floor in the next few weeks.

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