FARM, FOOD, AND NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 2026

On 2026-04-30, Representative Angie Craig (D-MN-2) delivered a floor speech titled "FARM, FOOD, AND NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 2026" in the House. The speech addressed the environment and also covered foreign policy, defense. It referenced legislation including HR7567, HRES1224.

FARM, FOOD, AND NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 2026

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 76 (Thursday, April 30, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 76 (Thursday, April 30, 2026)] [House] [Pages H3299-H3311] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] FARM, FOOD, AND NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 2026 The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Kim). Pursuant to House Resolution 1224 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, H.R. 7567. Will the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Patronis) kindly take the chair. {time} 0917 In the Committee of the Whole Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for the further consideration of the bill (H.R. 7567) to provide for the reform and continuation of agricultural and other programs of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2031, and for other purposes, with Mr. Patronis in the chair. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The Acting CHAIR. When the Committee of the Whole rose earlier today, a request for a recorded vote on amendment No. 47 printed in part B of House Report 119-628 offered by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Self) had been postponed. Amendment No. 49 Offered by Mrs. Spartz The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 49 printed in part B of House Report 119-628. Mrs. SPARTZ. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Add at the end of subtitle D of title XII the following: SEC. 12___. EXEMPTION OF FARM EQUIPMENT FROM CLEAN AIR ACT EMISSION STANDARDS. Section 213 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7547) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(e) Exemption for Farm Equipment.--The standards under this section shall not apply to new or in-use-- ``(1) agricultural tractors, as such term is defined in section 1928.51 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations; or ``(2) self-propelled agricultural equipment used to spray, fertilize, or harvest covered commodities, as such term is defined in section 1111(6) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9011(6)).''. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 1224, the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Spartz) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Indiana. Mrs. SPARTZ. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is very simple: Does Congress really care about American farmers and consumers, or about Big Ag screwing them on the farms and in the grocery stores? Does Congress really care about affordability, or is it just lip service during an election year? All this bill does is exempt large tractors and combines from unreasonable Clean Air Act emission standards, standards we already waived for military equipment in the name of national security. Is not food security just as much as national security? Really, Mr. Chair, how much damage to the environment is a combine going to do in 2 weeks in the field? These emission standards, however, are doing real damage to family farms and grocery prices. They make equipment extremely costly, prone to breakdowns, and less reliable, causing delays, fires, and higher prices for consumers. {time} 0920 Ask any farmer about DEF, diesel exhaust fluid, and you will hear it: Farm equipment and input costs have increased 30 to 100 percent in just 5 years. Farmers are struggling to survive, and consumers are struggling to afford groceries. These regulations only benefit large manufacturers like John Deere, controlled by billionaires like Bill Gates and BlackRock CEO, Larry Fink. You will hear a lot of BS arguments about the environment, but this has nothing to do with it. It is all about benefiting Wall Street and billionaire donors while screwing farmers and consumers. Is it not interesting that John Deere runs two production lines, one to screw American farmers under heavy regulations and one for Brazilian farmers with no emission standards? How is an American farmer supposed to compete with that? No one seems to care about those same exempt tractors being used in Brazil or the rainforest, the lungs of the planet, being destroyed. Democrats destroyed American mining and manufacturing, and now we appease China. Now they want to do the same to American farming, leaving us begging Brazil to feed us; Brazil, which has teamed up with Russia and China to take us down. I know that Big Ag lobbyists are working hard through congressional staff, which many of my colleagues unfortunately are controlled by, to defeat this amendment. These staffers have never held a real job. They are not going to be sweating fixing combines, getting covered with diesel fuel, grease, and chemicals, losing family farms, or struggling to put food on the table. They will be eating steak dinners at fancy restaurants in D.C. and trying to figure out how they can sell out our country to big money so they can get a million-dollar paycheck at the age of 30. If my colleagues truly care about affordability, not Wall Street donors, I urge them to support this commonsense amendment. I reserve the balance of my time. Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this amendment, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Minnesota is recognized for 5 minutes. Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, just wow. Just wow. That entire speech is just wow. At the end of the day, we are sitting here talking about the farm bill, and this amendment does nothing to materially address the very real issues farmers are facing as they look at planting season today. All I could really hear is the word ``Brazil.'' We have forced our largest export markets, like China, to Brazil and Argentina because of bad policies from this administration. I am pretty sure that my farmers back home in Minnesota are far more concerned about how they are going to afford fertilizer to make it to next year without a substantial loss than they are about emissions standards on their tractors. The cost of diesel has gone up 50 percent since the start of the war in Iran. [[Page H3300]] Where are my colleagues' amendments today forcing this administration into policies that actually help family farmers? The tariffs have sent our trading partners to other markets, perhaps never to come back. Let's talk about the domestic markets that we could be expanding into in this country, like year-round E15. However, are we taking a vote on year-round E15 today? No, because my Republican colleagues cannot even get themselves pulled together. Mr. Chairman, if we are going to talk about helping farmers' bottom line, this bill and this amendment do nothing to help them. We are going to be right back where we are 1 year from now asking what is going to save family farms if we pass this version of a farm bill. This amendment does absolutely nothing to help anyone. When we think about this farm bill, we think about the $187 billion in cuts to the SNAP program. That is $25 billion, Mr. Chair, directly to farmers' bottom line. Do you know what else is $25 billion so far, according to the Secretary of Defense? The war in Iran has cost $25 billion. We are here talking about a skinny farm bill that adds no cost to anything when we just spent in the last 60 days $25 billion on a war in Iran that no one wants. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is terrible, not to mention the critical role of the Clean Air Act in making sure that the health and safety of Americans across this country is secure. Do you know why Brazil is getting all our business? It is because they are cutting down the rainforest, and they are planting our commodities, our business. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time. Mrs. SPARTZ. Mr. Chair, may I inquire how much time I have remaining. The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman has 2 minutes. Mrs. SPARTZ. Mr. Chair, it is very interesting. If my colleague from the other side would actually spend some time in Minnesota with farmers, I think she would have a different perspective. Actually, as a generational farmer, my family came from Minnesota, and now I am in Indiana. If she would have spent a little bit of time actually talking to real farmers instead of trying to raise the price of commodities that a lot of working families will be paying for, she would start worrying about input costs and what it is doing to our prices and how family farms are going bankrupt, and if we continue on this path, we will have no farmers. It is very ironic that we allow Brazil, on top of everything else, to actually buy combines and tractors with none of these standards. It is really sad for me to see what this institution has become. I came from a very terrible country with Communist corruption, and to see how reckless, how heartless we became and how we don't really care about real people on the ground and hardworking farmers, hardworking Americans that are trying to make ends meet and trying to just increase prices from everyone and getting out of the business because they know if they create oligopolies in farming and farmers are going to lose their farms, they are going to control them, they are going to drag them to this committee, and they are going to be puppets to the government. If that is what they want, that is the country I grew up in. I hope we have some people in this institution who still care about real people on the ground, not big donors, not BS presentations, and all of these Wall Street funds like BlackRock that make a ton of money on that. I reserve the balance of my time. Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Chair, my beautiful congressional district in Minnesota is 40 percent covered in corn and soybeans every single summer, and right now those farmers have nowhere to sell their crops. Why is that? It is because we have systematically, under this administration's policies, created a situation where there are no expo

Referenced legislation: HRES1224, HRES1224, HR7567