Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agency Appropriations Act, 2027

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 8646. As ranking member of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, I am deeply disappointed by this bill because it fails every American who relies on us for safe food and medicines, resilient farmlands, and vital rural infrastructure.

The FY 2027 House Agriculture appropriations bill is 4 percent below the FY26 enacted levels, a cut of $1.1 billion. It makes substantial reductions across rural development, farm production and conservation, nutrition, and foreign aid programs.

Most notably, House Republicans are proposing to drastically reduce fruit and vegetable benefits for 5 million low-income women, infants, and children in the WIC program. With funding for WIC below 2026 and rising food costs, the National WIC Association says it is quite possible that State agencies will have to turn away eligible families for the first time in 30 years.

To my Republican colleagues and the American people, I ask, does this make sense? Do we not want fresh and healthy food for women, infants, and schoolchildren? Do we want to keep turning this country back instead of moving it forward?

While there is an unauthorized war in Iran, a single week's spending for the war could fully fund WIC for almost an entire year. What is worse, the Department of Defense admits that 25 percent of our servicemembers and military families do not have access to sufficient quality food to meet their basic needs.

The majority is willing to spend billions of dollars overseas but not willing to feed the American troops fighting the war?

This bill not only hurts those struggling to afford to put food on the table, but it also hurts our farmers. There were 46 percent more farm bankruptcies in 2025 than the year before, and the issue is getting worse. USDA's own economists expect farm income to decline by $4.1 billion from 2025 to 2026.

Just as our producers are getting hit with increased fuel and input costs from this unauthorized war and chaotic tariffs, this administration has gutted the experienced Federal workforce and shuttered offices when our producers and rural communities need them the most.

My colleagues and I across this country have gotten calls from farmers and ranchers who tell us that they are showing up to closed or understaffed Farm Service Agency, Rural Development, and Natural Resources Conservation Service offices. The staff they have worked with for years are disappearing, and the cuts to staffing in this bill at those very agencies will only make it harder for them to get the support that they need.

House Republicans also cut funding for water and wastewater grants for poor rural communities, slashing the programs by nearly 50 percent. These are basic human needs, quality-of-life necessities, and essential drivers for local job creation. There are still communities in rural areas across this country that don't have acceptable drinking or wastewater services that need these grants desperately.

This bill slashes rural broadband investments by 20 percent, rural business development grants by nearly 30 percent, and rural energy programs by 50 percent.

We cannot shut the door on our rural communities at a time when we need to do the opposite: invest in research at our land-grant universities and in rural development, preserve our farmland and forests, and ensure the safety of our food, medicine, and medical devices.

This bill is really about everyone. Everyone eats the food we produce. Everyone needs safe medicine and clean water. Everyone relies on affordable fuel and utilities. Unfortunately, the bill before us does not meet our country's needs.

The bill cuts funding for both the Office of Inspector General and the Office of Ethics at USDA, which are responsible for rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse. It slashes funding for the Office of Civil Rights. It nearly does away with the Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement, which means less transparency and less accountability to USDA stakeholders.

I appreciate very much the hard work of the Appropriations Committee staff and their ability to work so quickly after the much-delayed Presidential budget request. On the minority side, I thank Martha Foley, Marie Gualtieri, and Alex Swann. For the majority, I thank Pam Miller, Elizabeth Dent, Judd Gardner, Nick Seelinger, and Sykes Connell.

I also appreciate my colleague, Dr. Harris, very much for agreeing to keep essential funding for rural housing, senior food aid, and the McGovern-Dole food assistance intact. It is simply unfortunate, though, that the bill does not extend the same benefits to nutrition assistance, food security initiatives, and USDA operations.

I am very appreciative of the conversations that we have been able to have with Chairman Harris and the hard work with Chairman Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro in trying to get to a point where we can do what we need to do for the American people through this funding bill.

At this time, I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill and look forward to working with both sides to craft a better bill for our constituents and the American people.

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Mr. BISHOP. Madam Chair, the chairman has said that spending on WIC in 2026 was lower than in 2025. I point out that there was a government shutdown from October 1, 2025, to November 12, 2025. In October, faced with running out of funds, States asked infant formula companies to send out rebates faster so they could keep running their programs. Using the formula rebates made the average per-person food cost in October 2026 $9 lower than in 2025. But if you discount that month, the average monthly food cost in 2026 was higher than in 2025, not lower. We will do what we always do, and we will get the most accurate estimate for conference from the USDA, and we will use that number.

I yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the distinguished ranking member of the full Appropriations Committee.

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Mr. BISHOP. Madam Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), who is the distinguished ranking member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the Agriculture Subcommittee.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Chair, I rise today to speak in strong opposition to this bill. I am a proud member of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, but right now, our Nation's agricultural economy is in shambles.

Florida is known as a tourism mecca, but our number two economic driver is agriculture.

Our farmers, ranchers, and growers work tirelessly to put food on our table. They need real help, and they need it right now.

On the front end, this President's illegal tariffs body-slammed them, and then this administration's botched war sent fuel and fertilizer costs through the roof. Markets are now as volatile as the extreme storms and droughts they face every year, while this White House not only ignores the problem, they make it worse every day.

Clearly, we should be investing in our hardworking farmers, giving them the tools and resources they need to keep our country fed. Instead, this bill consciously chooses to make life even harder for them by cutting funding for the Department of Agriculture by more than $1.1 billion. It cuts staffing for the Farm Service Agency, which helps farmers access Federal financial help. It contains massive giveaways to the largest meat and poultry producers, yet fails to invest in ag research needed to grow more crops faster and more cheaply.

Madam Chair, do you know who pays for that?

It is our constituents at their local grocery store.

This legislation also directly harms nearly 7 million new mothers, babies, and children who count on the nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, with cuts of $200 million.

This bill also continues House Republicans' endless assault on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, slashing the most effective antihunger weapon the Federal Government has by $6 billion.

When grocery costs skyrocket, SNAP puts food on the table for working families, seniors, people with disabilities, and children. Every dollar cut from SNAP doesn't just disappear from a budget. It shows up in a hungry belly.

Worse still, this bill still continues America's withdrawal from the global stage by decimating international hunger assistance programs, leaving a massive void that China will gladly fill. This bill also makes our food and drug supply less safe, cutting roughly $60 million in discretionary funding from the FDA and boosting the chance that you will bite into your favorite snack, Madam Chair, and find large traces of heavy metals.

For example, this bill blocks FDA's food traceability rule from going into effect until 2028, even though ``Consumer Reports'' recently found high levels of arsenic, lead, and mercury in baby food, infant formula, bubble tea, and dark chocolate.

No one should have to question whether the food they eat is safe, not in this country, but that is another anxiety Republicans want to heap onto our families.

This is a bad bill that does nothing to help our farmers, new moms, children, or any of our constituents who are struggling to make ends meet.

I didn't come to Congress to make life worse for hardworking Americans, so I have no choice but to oppose this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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Mr. BISHOP. Madam Chair, it is interesting, looking at the State of Missouri from which Mr. Alford resides, they will lose, in terms of wastewater, $5,567,000 under this bill as compared to last year. In the Fourth District of Missouri, he will lose $467,000.

Madam Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Mrs. Fletcher).

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Mr. BISHOP. Madam Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bynum).

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Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I am really deeply disappointed in the bill. I am just reflecting on the reductions in this bill for rural water and waste disposal grants, 44 percent over last year.

If you look at what is happening with the chairman's district over in Maryland, the State of Maryland will lose $2.203 million for rural water and waste disposal grants and in the First District, it is $1.340 million of that.

The losses for rural energy for America and the REAP program are being cut 50 percent. That is really not doing right by our people in rural America. Being able to lower their energy costs, being able to help our farmers reduce the costs of their production, particularly at this time with the tremendous challenges that our farm communities are facing with costs, it just doesn't make sense to me.

At a time when our farmers are struggling, our rural communities are being left behind, and our families all across America are facing rising costs, this bill moves us in the wrong direction. We should be strengthening the programs that support agriculture, nutrition, and rural America, and we shouldn't be weakening them.

Mr. Chair, for these reasons, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill and to come together to work toward a measure that truly meets the needs of America's farmers, families, and our rural communities.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the amendments. The amendments include bipartisan and noncontroversial proposals that have been agreed to by both sides.

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Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), my friend and fellow Blue Dog.

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Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from California.

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Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Sykes).

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Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Leger Fernandez).

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Chair, I rise to speak in favor of my amendment to conduct a comprehensive study on large-scale algae production for agricultural and livestock uses.

Algae doesn't sound exciting, but the reality is it could be cheaper feed for livestock, cause fewer methane emissions, and lead to a higher conversion rate of protein. Dairy cows fed algae produce higher milk yields.

Growing algae could also help the economies of Sun-drenched rural areas like New Mexico. Our bright, yellow Sun can help grow green for our cows and our ranchers' pocketbooks.

So let's make something that is cheaper, more nutritious, and better for our planet more accessible to our ranchers. But to get there, we need better research into this feed source. Commercial algae for agriculture is an emerging frontier, and it makes sense for USDA to conduct the studies we need to make it widely available.

Let's pass my amendment and make our ranchers, potential algae farmers, and cows happier.

I urge my colleagues to support this en bloc package and my amendment.

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Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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