Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Filemon Vela (TX-34) , Chairman of the House Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, and 19 other Democratic members have sent a letter to the U.S. House Appropriations Committee expressing support for the inclusion of language in the continuing resolution (CR) which would allow U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to move forward with the recently announced Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments.
A portion of the letters reads, “As members of congress who represent agricultural communities throughout the United States, we repeatedly hear from farmers in our districts whose livelihoods have been severely impacted by the recent trade wars. Although we all have concerns about President Trump’s approach to trade negotiations, we refuse to engage in the same tactics that punish our constituents and harm our communities that rely on agriculture. Because the Administration has jeopardized Farm Bill payments with their ad hoc approach to dealing with the impacts of their trade war, we now need to also ensure that USDA can make upcoming Farm Bill payments in October and maintain funding for the marketing loan program during this harvest season.”