Newhouse Fights For American Agriculture

Press Release

Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) joined Republican Leaders from the Agriculture and Budget Committees and fellow House Republicans in a press conference to highlight the introduction of H.R. 8069, the Reducing Farm Input Costs and Barriers to Production Act. This legislation would protect and promote American agriculture by reversing the Biden Administration's regulatory barriers to domestic agriculture production, providing immediate relief to producers and families across the country.

Specifically, the bill:

* Provides relief from EPA's unprecedented actions related to crop protection tools
* Offers clarity related to WOTUS regulations
* Rescinds the SEC's harmful proposed rule on climate-related disclosures
* Reinstates the 2020 NEPA streamlining
* Requires an economic analysis on the costs and benefits of GIPSA rules

Rep. Newhouse's remarks as prepared can be found in full below:

We're here today to talk about something that affects every single person in this room: American Agriculture.

I come from Central Washington, where so many honest, hardworking, freedom-loving Americans who provide food and fiber for this nation reside.

We, along with so many other Americans, have a deep appreciation for our nation's farmers and recognize how important it is that we have a strong domestic agriculture sector.

But lately, President Biden and his far-left Democrats are so focused on radically altering the country with their burdensome regulations and socialist spending proposals, they're blind to the impacts their own policies are having on Americans across the country. The cost of living is at a 40-year high--and is still going up. Now they are looking to raise taxes, again, on farms who are struggling to afford the inputs like fertilizer they need--if they can even find it.

As a lifelong farmer, former director of agriculture for Washington state, and current Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, I understand the vested interest we share in supporting our agriculture producers--and I am proud to join my House Republican colleagues in advocating against burdensome regulations that impact rural communities and for real solutions--not just empty promises--to our farmers and ranchers, to our farmworkers, and to all Americans who deserve a strong food supply chain.

First, the House has acted twice now to pass my bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, and it is time for the Senate to act on it to provide the labor our farmers so desperately need.

I'm leading the entire Congressional Western Caucus in fighting back against this Administration's efforts to revive the single most overreaching federal regulation in history: the "Waters of the United States"--or WOTUS--rule which puts the livelihoods of farmers and rural communities across the nation at stake.

I, alongside my Republican colleagues, am leading the effort to stop Communist China from gobbling up American farmland and taking control of our food supply chain.

I'm protecting our hydroelectric dams that provide baseload power for Central Washington and beyond and serve as a sustainable and efficient way to irrigate and transport our nation's crops.

It is clear to me -- just as I know it is clear to my constituents--that President Biden and Democrats in control of Congress are failing to display the leadership America needs and deserves.

I call on the Biden Administration to take a good long look at how their policies are harming us in rural communities across the country and take immediate steps to reverse them. We deserve far better.

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