Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the language I helped secure in the Agriculture appropriations bill addresses a serious concern regarding the manufacturing and selling of unregulated, intoxicating THC products nationwide.

I led the effort to legalize industrial hemp through the 2014 pilot program and the 2018 farm bill. Unfortunately, companies have exploited a loophole in the 2018 legislation by taking legal amounts of THC from hemp and turning it into intoxicating substances and then marketing it to children in candylike packaging and selling it in easily accessible places like gas stations and convenience stores all across our country. So the children end up being the unknowing consumers of these poisonous products and being sent to the hospital at an alarming rate.

My efforts to close this loophole and stop this from happening are included in this appropriations package. It will keep these dangerous products out of the hands of children while preserving the hemp industry for farmers. Industrial hemp and CBD will remain legal for industrial applications--such as seed, stock, fiber, grain oil--or will be used in drug trials. This language merely clarifies the original intent of the 2018 farm bill, rooting out the bad actors and protecting the growing hemp industry.

While some may masquerade as advocates for hemp farmers, even sometimes threatening to hold up government funding over this issue, I will continue to work on behalf of Kentucky's farmers while protecting our children not only in my State but in yours as well. I would urge my colleagues to do the same. 3941, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

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