WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, told senior industry leaders, policy makers and key thought leaders that the Democrat’s tax and spend bill leaves animal agriculture “out in the cold” during his remarks at the “Sustainable Solutions for Zero Hunger by 2030” forum.
“Just this week, House Democrats selected their winners and losers when it comes to climate policy as the agriculture portion of the partisan Reconciliation bill advanced through the House,” Boozman said. “The segment of American agriculture responsible for over half of our country’s farm receipts was left out in the cold entirely. This signals to me that the administration is not interested in assisting animal agriculture in being more sustainable.”
Boozman noted that more than $66 billion was directed toward research and infrastructure initiatives focusing on urban agriculture, civilian climate corps, organics, specialty crops, tree equity and more.
“In what we’ve seen so far, not a single dollar in that $94 billion package was devoted to animal agriculture,” the ranking member said.
Presented in partnership with Elanco and Agri-Pulse, the virtual forum “Sustainable Solutions for Zero Hunger by 2030” brought together key leaders across the global livestock community to discuss the next steps of food production’s sustainable transformation and our ability to fight hunger while reducing the environmental impact of our global food systems.
“The White House has its own agenda. The president and his allies have little regard for the impact of their decisions on the agriculture community as a whole. The fact that they have refused to consider your voices in the discussion should be very alarming as the decision on where to spend this money, or in this case where not to, will have long-term ramifications on the industry’s future,” Boozman said.
Ranking Member Boozman’s remarks, as prepared, can be read in full here.