National Hemp History Week

Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I asked for an extra few minutes. I want to spend another few minutes just talking about another part of our economy that I think can grow in the days ahead, and I would ask unanimous consent, Mr. President, to bring a basket of Oregon products onto the floor at this time.

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, this week is National Hemp History Week, and to help celebrate I thought I would show a few Oregon-made hemp products to highlight the many uses and opportunities for industrial hemp in my State and across the country.

In the basket I brought, I have food, soap, clothes, and even deck sealant, all made in Oregon, bought and sold in American stores and used by Americans. Oregon companies such as Bob's Red Mill, Fiddlebumps, and Hemp Shield contribute to our economy in unique ways. Industrial hemp supports a $620 million industry in America, and our companies have found innovative ways of incorporating it into everyday products.

However, the full growth potential of this industry is being cut down before it can fully bloom because a single ingredient that links all of these products--the hemp itself--cannot be grown in America. The unfortunate reality is that current Federal rules prohibit our farmers from growing industrial hemp on American soil. This means 100 percent of the hemp used in these products is imported from other nations. The Federal ban on hemp amounts, in my view, to a restriction on free enterprise, and it doesn't accomplish anything but stifles job creation and economic growth.

We are the world's largest consumers of hemp products, but we are the only major industrialized nation to ban hemp farming. This hasn't always been the case, and it doesn't have to continue to be the case. It was once a booming crop in America and it can and should be again.

American farmers were growing this product as early as the 1600s, before our Nation was even founded. The Declaration of Independence, colleagues, was written on paper made from hemp. In the 1800s and early 1900s, it was used to make rope, heating oil, and textiles. During World War II we used it as part of the Hemp for Victory Program to support our soldiers. But everything got changed when hemp got wrapped up with marijuana in Federal regulations, and it has been banned ever since.

Are they related? Maybe industrial hemp and marijuana are related species, but one should not be confused with the other, much like a Chihuahua and a St. Bernard. Mixing hemp in with a ban on growing marijuana is based on a lot of misconception. No matter where Members of this body come down on medical or recreational marijuana, industrial hemp and marijuana might be related plant species, but there are big differences between them, such as their chemical makeup.

Because they are not the same plant, they should not be treated with the same regulation and prohibitions. In my view, keeping the ban on growing hemp makes about as much sense as instituting a ban on Portobello mushrooms. There is no reason to outlaw a product that is perfectly safe because of what it is related to.

That is why the majority leader Senator McConnell and I came together, with our colleague from Kentucky Rand Paul and my colleague from Oregon Jeff Merkley--we came together on a bipartisan basis to introduce the Industrial Hemp Farming Act. Our bill would make sure hemp does not get lumped into the definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act.

Our bill is all about stopping the unfair punishment of entrepreneurs and farmers who want to be part of a growing ag industry here in America. Companies in our Nation that are importing hemp to use in food, cosmetics, soap, clothing, and auto parts, they ought to be buying that hemp from American farmers and contributing to our agricultural sector.

I will close by way of saying there are also big environmental benefits to industrial hemp. It takes less water to grow hemp than it does to grow cotton, and hemp generally requires fewer pesticides than other crops. I will put it this way, colleagues: If you can buy it at your local supermarket--and I got involved in this because I saw it at Costco when my wife was pregnant with our third child--if you can buy it at the local supermarket, American farmers ought to be able to grow it.

I urge my colleagues to join me, the distinguished majority leader Senator McConnell, his colleague Senator Rand Paul, and my colleague Senator Merkley in our legislation to address this gap in American law and today join me in celebrating National Hemp History Week by learning more about this safe and versatile crop and the potential it holds to bolster American agriculture and the domestic economy.

These products are products that are sold all across America. We ought to have a chance for our farmers--farmers in Nebraska, farmers in Arkansas, farmers in Indiana--to be able to grow this product and reap the benefits of the private economy associated with it.

I yield the floor.

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