M. Speaker. By direction of the Committee on Rules I call up House Resolution 799 and ask for its immediate consideration.
For the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina, Dr. Foxx. All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I also ask unanimous consent that all Members be given five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 799.
M. Speaker. H. Res. 799 provides for consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2997, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010. The rule waives all points of order against the conference report on H.R. 2997 and against its consideration, and the rule provides that the previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervention of any motion except one hour of debate and one motion to recommit if applicable.
M. Speaker, I rise in support of the conference report for the Fiscal Year 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Conference Report.
This is a good bill, one that went through the regular order. It is, in fact, the third appropriations conference report this body will consider this year. I want to commend Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro and Ranking Member Jack Kingston, as well as the other subcommittee Members, for their efforts in completing this bill. M. Speaker, this bill is one that doesn't normally get a lot of attention but is, in reality, one of the most important bills we can pass.
I'm wish the allocation for this bill isn't higher than it is because there is a great need for the programs that make up this bill. This conference report funds the following areas at the Department of Agriculture - public health programs, rural communities, agriculture research, animal health and marketing programs, and conservation. Most importantly, this bill funds domestic and international anti-hunger and nutrition programs - programs that literally put food in the mouths of hundreds of millions of hungry people here at home and around the world.
M. Speaker, this bill is $2.7 billion more than last year and $325 million more than the President's request - a 13% increase over last year's bill.
Following my opening statement, we'll hear from my Rules Committee colleague from North Carolina and I expect that she will talk about how this bill spends too much money and that this increase is simply unnecessary, especially during these difficult economic times.
Well, M. Speaker, this increase is needed now more than ever. Just look at where the increases in this bill are targeted - to the areas of nutrition, international food assistance, and food and drug safety.
Simply, these increases go to protect our food supply and to provide food for those who either cannot afford it or do not have access to it. It's unconscionable to me that anyone can complain about helping people in need during these tough economic times.
Today there are over 36 million low-income individuals who rely on the SNAP program, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program. The sad fact is that this is a record number of people who are currently relying on this safety net program. This bill provides over $58 billion for the SNAP program, an increase of more than $4 billion from 2009. WIC is funded at $7.2 billion, an increase of almost $400 million. This increase will provide up to 9.6 million women, infants, and children help with a healthy pregnancy and healthy start in life. The Commodity Food Supplemental Program, a program that provides nutritious food to low-income women, infants, children and elderly citizens who all struggle with rising food costs, is funded at $171 million. That's $11 million more than 2009 and $9 million more than the President's request. Finally, the child nutrition programs - school meals and snacks - receive almost $17 billion, $1.9 billion above 2009 levels.
Hunger is getting worse in America, and this bill provides funding that keeps the safety net intact. Look at one of the more affluent areas in this country, Fairfax County. According to a recent Washington Post article, Fairfax churches and nonprofit organizations report a 39 percent increase in food assistance in the fourth quarter of 2008 when compared to the fourth quarter of 2007. Let me repeat that - a 39 percent increase. Quote - -Almost half of the respondents reported helping families that had never asked for aid before - many of them former middle-class residents now unemployed or facing foreclosure- - end quote.
I ask unanimous consent to insert this article into the record at the end of my statement.
M. Speaker, this is just one example of how hunger is creeping into areas of the country that aren't used to seeing hunger. Food banks, WIC clinics, and SNAP processers are the ones providing food for people who simply can't make ends meet. Yet my colleagues on the other side of the aisle say we can't afford to properly fund these programs - insinuating that we should turn our backs on these people in need.
I, for one, make no apologies for these increases in food and nutrition programs. We have a moral obligation to step up to the plate, to help the most vulnerable during these times.
Internationally, the need is just as great. This bill provides critical funding for the Food for Peace Program and McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program. Overall, there is $1.89 billion provided for international food aid programs. That's an increase of $564 million over 2009. The PL 480 Food for Peace Title II Grants program receives $1.69 billion, which is $464 million above 2009. And a program close to my heart, the McGovern-Dole Program, is more than doubled from the previous year. In 2010, this important program will receive $209.5 million, $10 million more than President Obama's request and $109.5 million more than 2009 levels.
For too long, this country has underfunded international food and nutrition assistance. This bill is changing that course. We are putting more money up front for development - providing assistance before it becomes an emergency. This is appropriate and necessary, and I applaud Chairwoman DeLauro for working to right the misguided policies of the previous administration.
I am also pleased that there is more than $33 million for eradication of the Asian Long-Horned Beetle, an increase of more than $13 million over last year. This funding will help USDA in their efforts to continue identifying and eradicating the infestation of this pest. While more funding is needed - and I will be asking USDA for additional emergency funding for this effort - the funding included in this bill is welcome and I appreciate its inclusion.
Finally, M. Speaker, I want to address the tragic bombing of the United Nations' World Food Program offices in Islamabad, Pakistan. The World Food Program benefits from the international food aid programs that are funded in this bill. WFP is an excellent partner and is on the front lines of many of the efforts to combat hunger and starvation around the world. Josette Sheeran and everyone at WFP do an excellent job and I'm pleased to be able to work with them as they work to end hunger around the world.
I want to convey my deepest condolences and sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of the WFP staff who were killed yesterday in Pakistan. My thoughts and prayers are also with those who were wounded and injured in the bombing attack and we hope for their full recovery. The bombing underscores the often dangerous situations in which WFP and so many other humanitarian and relief workers around the globe find themselves. And I, for one, can only thank them for their important and too often unrecognized service to humanity.
