-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I am honored to speak on the floor of the Senate and support Brooke Rollins to be Secretary of Agriculture. The Senate will vote on her nomination in this Cabinet position today, and I encourage my colleagues to vote yes.

America's farmers, ranchers, and foresters need a leader at USDA who will be an advocate for their livelihoods and rural America and be a strong voice to address the pressing needs of our agriculture community. Brooke Rollins is that person. In her hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee, she pledged to do everything within her ability to ensure that our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities thrive. And we know she will follow through on that because rural America helped shape her into what she is today.

She is leading a life of service that began with membership in her smalltown Texas FFA chapter. She continues to credit her FFA adviser for his support and mentorship in her agriculture career. She invited him to attend the nomination hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee last month, along with the Texas State FFA officer team she served with in high school.

Texas Governor Rick Perry knew Brooke Rollins had a heart for Texas farmers and invited her to join his policy team, where she advocated for agriculture. She continues that passion today.

Her executive leadership during the first Trump administration and her regular collaboration with President Trump make her uniquely qualified to serve in this position and advocate for family farms.

She understands the significant responsibility of this role during one of the most economically challenging times for agriculture producers. Hard-working farmers who grow our food are struggling to operate, let alone make a profit in this current economic climate. High inflation and steep input costs far outpacing depressed market prices have put many farm families on a course toward bankruptcy, with multigenerational operations fighting to continue their family legacies.

In December, Congress approved natural disaster and emergency assistance to help producers obtain critical operating loans for this crop year. Ensuring delivery of this aid will be one of her first priorities as Secretary. I am confident she will pursue policies to help rural America live up to its potential.

While we first met during the first Trump administration, I have had the opportunity to get to know her better during her confirmation process, and she has demonstrated her enthusiasm for being a voice for smalltown American agriculture producers. I am grateful she is willing to take on this big responsibility and is willing to be a part of the solution to help rural America at this time of unprecedented challenges.

As chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I have met with farmers, ranchers, and agriculture stakeholders from all over the country, and they have been sounding the alarm of the dire circumstances they face in producing a safe, affordable, and abundant supply of food. Farmers from my home State of Arkansas shared with the committee last week about the difficult conversations they are forced to have right now about continuing their multigenerational farms and risking their families' futures in the industry. Unfortunately, this is a conversation many more farm families across the country will have if we do not act quickly.

Congress must deliver an updated 5-year farm bill that modernizes the safety net in order to minimize the liabilities farm families take on when they plant their crops. Food security is national security. Our country is blessed to have grocery stores stocked with food to put on our tables. This is the result of the hard work of our farmers and ranchers. These producers need the tools to be successful and continue to grow the food, fiber, and fuel our Nation depends on.

I know Brooke Rollins shares my commitment to enhancing policies that help farm families and rural communities thrive. Given her executive leadership, she is well prepared to hit the ground running when she walks through the doors of the USDA as Secretary and to deliver this certainty and predictability our producers need. I look forward to working with her and strengthening rural America for the men, women, and families who call it home.

I also want to thank everyone on both sides of the aisle for making it such that we can do this in such an expeditious way. It took a lot of cooperation. I think it just shows how important our farmers are to both Democrats and Republicans. It is one of the few areas in which it is not a partisan issue. It is all about helping the men and women who work so, so very hard to provide the food we eat.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source