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

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the Fiscal Year 2027 Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies bill. Last year, Republicans forced through their now incredibly unpopular Big Beautiful Bill, which cut a historic number of Americans from food assistance benefits. This Agriculture appropriations bill is no different, continuing these same dangerous cuts that benefit the wealthy and well connected.

Mr. Speaker, you may be wondering what my stake in agriculture is. Though Minnesota produces vast amounts of commodities like wheat, corn, soybeans, and sugar beets, just to name a few, my district is home to only a couple of great apple orchards and some small community farms. However, right down the street from my district office is the University of Minnesota Saint Paul campus, which is home to several vital agriculture programs. Programs like the Cereal Disease Lab, run by the Agricultural Research Service and housed on the university campus, conduct vital research into rare wheat diseases. The University of Minnesota's Veterinary program is also in Saint Paul, training the future workforce that will provide care for animals across our state. I am proud that these vital programs continue to be supported by this bill.

However, the cuts made to assistance programs like WIC, and the lack of solutions to the SNAP cuts, are deeply worrisome. Minnesota administers SNAP at the county level, and I know that many of my colleagues--on both sides of the aisle--represent states that do the same. This bill does nothing to solve the immense administrative and program cost shifts enacted by the Big Beautiful Bill. Furthermore, this bill continues devastating cuts to WIC. The proposed funding level means that there will be women and children who are eligible for assistance but will not receive it. I have heard from my constituents about how much they depend on these funding streams, especially at a time when costs are rising across the board. Continuing to cut these programs will harm my constituents.

Rural Minnesotans will also be harmed by the cuts in this bill. The ReConnect Broadband program, which helps connect rural Minnesotans across the state to reliable broadband service, is slashed by 20 percent. This bill also cuts important water and waste grants--the backbone of rural conservation efforts--that help rural communities access clean drinking water. Furthermore, the eight percent cut to the Natural Resources Conservation Service will limit farmers' ability to implement best conservation practices.

If this bill as written were to be enacted into law, Minnesotans from my district to our most rural communities will see their costs rise. I hope that we can work together to improve this bill for the American people and reverse the devastating cuts proposed.

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