Articles Tagged with ''House Agriculture Committee''

Climate policy is a top priority this year for President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats. But it's going to be challenging for the House Agriculture Committee to find a bipartisan compromise.

The Farmers to Families Food Box program has played a valuable role in addressing the hunger crisis caused by the COVID pandemic, but it needs to be improved so farms of all sizes can take advantage of it and hungry Americans can obtain needed sustenance, witnesses told the House Agriculture Committee Thursday.

The Democratic-controlled House looks to clear the $1.9 trillion stimulus package for President Joe Biden’s signature this week, while the Senate turns to moving more of his Cabinet nominees, including his pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Michael Regan.

Democrats pushed President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package through the House early Saturday despite progressives' fears about the future of a minimum-wage increase that's included in the measure.

Democrats are preparing to pour money into federal conservation programs as a key way to pay farmers to address climate change. Converting marginal croplands to grass through the Conservation Reserve Program is one way to do it, but the question is whether USDA can get landowners interested in it again.

The panel charged with addressing farm and food policy in the House of Representatives is adding four new Democrats and bringing one more member with previous experience back to the committee.

The House Agriculture Committee will debate a $16 billion stimulus measure that includes a substantial down payment on Democrats’ promise to address racial justice issues. The committee’s draft bill, which will be part of a broader $1.9 trillion stimulus package, would provide sweeping debt relief to minority farmers on USDA loans.

The House Agriculture Committee is adding seven new Republican members. All but one, Texas Rep. Michael Cloud, are first-term members. The others: Kat Cammack of Florida, Randy Feenstra of Iowa, Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota, Tracy Mann of Kansas, Mary Miller of Illinois and Barry Moore of Alabama.