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Floor Speech

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Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I am proud to represent the great State of Nebraska. Agriculture is our No. 1 industry in Nebraska. I am also proud to represent our farmers and ranchers, who are the best in the world. Agriculture is the heart and soul of what we do in the State of Nebraska. We produce the finest products and the safest food. We feed and fuel our great Nation.

Now, it is no secret that our farmers and ranchers have had some challenges. We have seen low commodity prices and high input costs. We have also seen a drought in my State as well as wildfires that are the worst in our State's history--burning over 1 million acres. But our farmers and ranchers, they are tough and resilient. They find ways to come together and get through the tough times, and they contribute to their communities. Despite all of this, they continue to invest to make sure that we have a strong agricultural sector in Nebraska. This is also important for our country, as food security is national security.

Last week, the Senate passed my resolution to proclaim May as Beef Month throughout the entire country. Again, this is our leading industry in Nebraska: the beef industry. We are the leading State for exporting beef--$1.7 billion worth. We are a leader in every category of beef production. In fact, we have over 6 million head of cattle, and the 3 highest beef-producing counties in the country are in Nebraska. We are very proud of our beef industry, and, of course, it is the best tasting beef in the entire world--even if the Presiding Officer doesn't agree with that right now, being from Montana. So we are very, very proud of that.

May is also Renewable Fuels Month. Again, Nebraska is a leader in renewable fuels with 2.2 billion gallons. Not only is this important for creating jobs in our small towns and rural communities, but this is one of the ways that consumers can save money at the pump. The last time I filled up on E10--a 10-percent blend of ethanol--I saved 55 cents a gallon at my local Hy-Vee. It is also a great way to be able to help clean up the environment.

Of course, it is great for our farmers and ranchers. It is also great for our country. There are estimates that our renewable fuels industry that is so great for our corn farmers and soybean farmers also displaces about 640 million barrels of foreign oil. That means we are less dependent on foreign sources of energy. This is, again, a great way for consumers to save money but also for us to strengthen our energy independence--``America First'' energy independence. So our homegrown solution is biofuels.

At the summit last week, when President Trump was in Beijing, we heard good news with regard to potential initial purchases of American agricultural products. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said there will be ``double-digit billions'' of U.S. agricultural products in 2026, 2027, and 2028--maybe $17 billion in each of those years. That is on top of the 25 million metric tons of soybeans that communist China had agreed to buy already, last year in October. That certainly is good news for our farmers.

What we need is to make sure that we hold communist China accountable for those purchases. We recall that in the first Trump administration, they signed the phase 1 trade deal with communist China, but as soon as President Trump was out of office, China reneged on that deal. We have seen them capriciously turn away the cargo ships of our corn. They have delisted our beef processors.

Communist China, at the end of the day, is a bad trading partner. We need to make sure we hold them accountable for the commitments they make, and I expect this administration will do just that. They have a track record of doing it.

In addition, we need to look at diversifying our export markets. That is why I am introducing the MARKET Act. The MARKET Act would instruct the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative to look at ways we can mitigate our dependence on communist China and to look for new markets. Last year, in the Working Families Tax Cut, we put in an additional $285 million--doubling the amount of money for trade promotion--to be able to find new markets for our farmers and ranchers.

My MARKET Act would require the USDA and the USTR to work together to look for new markets and to come back with a report to Congress on how we can further expand those and mitigate the risks of being dependent upon our adversaries like communist China. Do we need to do something with regard to legislative action or regulatory action? This will help make sure that we continue to be able to expand the trade that is so important for our agricultural States, like Nebraska.

About a third of everything we grow in Nebraska gets exported overseas. We are the fifth largest ag exporter in the country. These markets overseas are important to our strong economy in Nebraska. My MARKET Act will help make sure we continue to look for opportunities to be able to grow that.

I am proud of our farmers and ranchers. They do a great job of feeding our great Nation. And I am proud to be able to continue to support them here in Washington, DC. ______

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