Energy

I am proud to have joined my colleagues in historic investments to clean up the Chesapeake, support America's farmers, and to help ensure that all families have access to healthy, nutritious food. The Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act serves as a momentous first step in the direction I think America’s energy policy should go.

The Chesapeake Bay, for the first time, will be allocated funds that will begin to seriously address the extensive clean up efforts that will be necessary to preserve the environment for generations to come. Also, critical provisions to help fight global warming and make our nation energy-independent were included. We must adjust our national energy policies so that they focus on investments in renewable energy programs and production incentives for alternative fuels.

Real payment limitations that crack down on subsidies to large farms controlled by corporations must be imposed. Funds need to be redirected to the people who need it the most: family farmers and ranchers. The Farm Bill stipulates this. It also includes new transparency rules to ensure that Americans know that taxpayer dollars are getting to the family farmers who need them.

Lastly, The Farm Bill makes expansions to the nutrition programs that help 35 million low-income families. This is crucial because, for the first time in thirty years, the Food Stamp Program's minimum benefit will be increased. The Food Stamp program will affect more than 313,000 Marylanders, nearly 108,000 of who are from Baltimore. The funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program will be nearly doubled.  This will ensure that emergency feeding sites have much needed resources. Additionally, all children will be provided an opportunity to eat healthy food through The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program that will be expanded to all fifty states.

I support the things the Farm Bill proposes, but one piece of legislation will not be enough. Energy concerns, global warming, and our environment have to be shifted to the top of our priorities list. We are no longer afforded the luxury of waiting to pass legislation like the Farm Bill, which makes essential investments in our country's future in a fiscally responsible way. I would encourage the President to stop impeding investments in the right priorities for American families.