During a Senate Appropriations Committee heraing on Tuesday, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) questioned Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins about the shuttering of USAID.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And just to follow up on that, I referenced this in my opening statement,
00:08but in New Hampshire, USDA has frozen an $11 million RCPP award for the Connecticut River Conservancy.
00:15It's a project that has leveraged public-private partnerships for critical ecosystem restoration across the watershed.
00:22And, unfortunately, the months-long delay has slowed seasonal work, and it's driven up the costs of the project.
00:32Given that it's been more than three months since the administration froze this program, when will USDA release the funding?
00:39What is the name of it again?
00:41It's an RCPP award for the Connecticut River Conservancy, and we're happy to follow up with whoever the appropriate person is.
00:52And just to follow up on that, one of the things, as we know, that Congress did at the end of last year was to pass disaster funding.
01:06That included $220 million as a set-aside for small farms in the six New England states, plus Hawaii and Alaska.
01:15And we've got apple growers in New Hampshire who, in 23, lost about 90 percent of their crop.
01:26Virtually all stone crops were wiped out in that season.
01:30They've been waiting desperately for the funding to be released from that emergency supplemental.
01:37Senator Tillis and I sent you a letter back in March emphasizing the need to get this assistance out.
01:43So, again, along the lines of Senator Collins' question, can you provide an update for when the remaining funds will be released
01:52and how we will ensure that the funding goes, particularly to the small farms in states like New Hampshire,
02:00where they are desperately in need of some assistance?
02:03Yes, ma'am.
02:04I appreciate that.
02:05The ECAP funding, the economic assistance, of course, we were given a statutory deadline of March 21st, I believe,
02:11when y'all passed that or when it was passed in late last year.
02:14I think March 16th or March 17th the portal opened, and it's a three-day turnaround in most cases.
02:21I think we've already moved out.
02:22I don't have the number in front of me, but of the $10 billion, almost $8 billion.
02:25Y'all correct me if I'm wrong.
02:26So, we've actually moved almost all of that money out in, I would argue, record speed, but maybe there have been a few that we haven't.
02:33So, please let us follow up on that.
02:35I've got right in front of me, Madam Chairman, that in your state we have moved out $395 million just into New Hampshire to 17,476 of your producers in New Hampshire.
02:49So, I think we've done pretty well on that, but, again, if there are instances where you are not hearing those stories
02:56and that it hasn't moved as quickly as we believe it has, please let us know, and we'll run that down.
03:01On the disaster relief part of it, which is the additional $20 billion, in the coming weeks, by the end of May, that portal will open also.
03:08Obviously, as part of that $20 billion, there was specific funding for the Mexican water issue in Texas, and then, of course, up in the northeast, where you are,
03:18and then I believe Alaska was the third specific instance, but we're working with governors across the country.
03:23That was a little more complicated than the ECAP, the disaster, or the emergency relief payments, but we're really close,
03:30and within a matter of days or weeks, certainly by the end of this month, that money will begin moving as well.
03:34Well, thank you. I appreciate that. As you know, farming is very different in New England than it is in the Midwest
03:40and many states in the West, and anything that we can do to be helpful in terms of getting information from our farmers
03:49to make sure that they qualify for those programs, please, I hope you'll work with us.
03:54I also serve on the Foreign Relations Committee, and one of the things that the FY26 budget request eliminates is the Food for Peace program
04:07and the McGovern-Dole Food for Education program. In 2023, those programs provided over 1.1 million metric tons
04:16of U.S.-grown commodities to people abroad. For weeks earlier this year, more than 550 metric tons
04:25of U.S.-grown rice, peas, wheat, beans, super cereal, and ready-to-use therapeutic food sat at risk of spoilage
04:33in ports, on ships, and in warehouses across the world because of the dismantling of USAID.
04:39We're tracking that more than 350 metric tons of mixed commodities from American farmers are either pending purchase
04:48or will not be purchased this year due to the administration's terminations and delays.
04:53So can you talk about what you're saying to farmers to address this and how we're replacing that food that is so desperately needed
05:03by people around the world?
05:05Yeah, I'll talk briefly about the McGovern-Dole program first, and I think it's important to realize
05:12that that is a $240 million program, but our numbers show only about $37 million of that is directly tied to agriculture,
05:24which of course is what I'm focused on. So as we are looking to realign the government,
05:29to reorganize, to make it more efficient for the American taxpayer,
05:34looking at programs like McGovern-Dole, which obviously all these government programs
05:39have a very worthy mission statement with very wonderful intentions,
05:46but at the end of the day are they serving the American taxpayer who is funding them,
05:51and are we providing and meeting the metrics of what the original intent was?
05:56And without knowing all the details of the McGovern-Dole program, for example,
06:01the fact that of a $240 million program, only $37 million is being used regarding commodities,
06:08our American farmer commodities, and I don't say $37 million isn't a big number,
06:12and especially for our farmers and our ranchers, but I think in the context of what the effort is
06:17to ensure that everything we're doing is aligned with the best and highest use of taxpayer dollars
06:23and understanding that the layers of bureaucracy and the administration
06:28and all of the money going to lots of other places other than our ag community,
06:32that we need a wholesale re-approach to all of it.
06:37And that's what, and I realize Senator will agree to disagree on this,
06:41but that's what President Trump's vision is, and while we're going through,
06:46it's never easy to change the status quo, the easiest thing for us to do is just say,
06:51oh, it's great, and we don't want to make anyone mad, and let's just keep moving forward
06:54and keep adding money to the programs.
06:56This is what I believe the voters asked for, and we'll continue to have these discussions.
07:01So I hear you, it is something we're looking at every day in the Food for Peace program as well,
07:07but programs like McGovern Dole, it's time to really take a deep look
07:11and see what we're spending the money on and if it's being effective.
07:14I'm out of time, and I appreciate what you're saying,
07:17and I think most of us would agree that examining the programs
07:21and being more efficient and effective is something that we all support.
07:26But when we do it in a way that allows millions of tons of food and medicine to rot
07:32because we've cut off funding to ensure that that goes where it's supposed to go,
07:37that is not efficient and effective.
07:40Thank you, Mr. Chairman.