Republicans' Farm Bill POISONS Americans and BETRAYS MAHA

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]Despite today's packed agenda, not a single thing Republicans have scheduled for today's hearings will focus on the cost of living.

[00:00:09]Not a single thing will bring down prices. Not a single thing will address the affordability crisis facing American families. I mean, look at our schedule for today. You have us debating a ridiculous culture war bill about trans kids, a flawed FISA bill that lets the government spy on Americans, a farm bill that betrays farmers and makes the affordability crisis worse.

[00:00:31]And a budget resolution that tees up yet another blank check to ICE and CBP, lawless agencies that are acting outside the bounds of the law.

[00:00:42]You guys are doing nothing to lower food or gas prices, nothing on health care, nothing on child care or rent or utility bills, nothing to help regular people with kitchen table issues.

[00:00:53]Even Fox News has caught on. They just released a poll showing that a majority of voters now think Democrats would do a better job than Republicans on lowering prices and fixing the economy.

[00:01:05]And we need to look no further than this week's bills to see why that might be the case. And let me just go through them. HR 2616 is yet another bill focused on, you guessed it, trans people.

[00:01:16]With all that's going on in people's lives, this is what you guys think we need to be spending time on? Who asked for this?

[00:01:24]Why are you guys so obsessed uh so obsessed with transgender people? Maybe your approval rating on the economy wouldn't be in the gutter if you guys spent less time policing people's personal lives and more time focusing in on affordability.

[00:01:39]This is the United States Congress, for God's sake. You all think that this is what we should be debating right now? A bill on what names kids are allowed to be called in school? I mean, this is pathetic and it is embarrassing. And then we have the FISA reauthorization.

[00:01:56]And let me just say it is nice to actually have time to read the bill text. I want to thank you for keeping your word on that. Uh but that is where my compliments end.

[00:02:07]Um this bill extends section 702 for 3 years, but it does not It does not include a real warrant requirement for searches of Americans' communications.

[00:02:18]This text still lets the FBI collect, search, and review the private communications of Americans whose data ends up in the 702 system without a judge signing off on it. I don't trust Kash Patel to tell me the correct time.

[00:02:35]I surely don't trust him to do the right thing without judicial oversight. We've already seen his willingness to weaponize the agency he runs to further his own personal and political agenda.

[00:02:46]There ought to be a real warrant requirement, period, end of story. And that brings me to the farm bill.

[00:02:54]I sit on the Agriculture Committee. I've worked on hunger, nutrition, and farming issues for a long time.

[00:03:00]This farm bill, in my view, is a disaster. It is an awful, ugly, rotten farm bill. We have 40 million people in this country who are hungry. 40 million people struggling to afford food. And by the way, it's getting worse because of Trump's stupid tariffs and illegal war in Iran that are driving up food costs.

[00:03:20]And rather than addressing the concerns of everyday people, you know, rather than helping families afford nutritious food, you guys are using the farm bill, our number one tool of agricultural policy in this country, to protect to protect the big ag monopolies that profit from ultra-processed food and the multi-billion dollar pesticide companies that dump toxins into our food, air, and water.

[00:03:47]And I wish I I were kidding, but I'm not.

[00:03:51]Republicans already made the biggest cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in history last year. 3 million Americans have already been cut off of food assistance because of your big ugly bill. And now you want to lock those cuts in for 5 years? Nearly $200 billion worth of cuts to a program that provides hungry seniors and veterans and kids and workers with an average benefit of a little over $2 per person per meal.

[00:04:20]Again, instead of reversing uh your cuts, instead of helping hungry people, you're giving a nice fat giveaway to donors and lobbyists at the multi-billion dollar pesticide companies. I think that that's sick. I think it's immoral.

[00:04:37]And when it comes to the budget resolution, oh oh my god, just just when I think I've I've seen it all, we have a budget resolution that lays the groundwork for another blank check to ICE and CBP, agencies that are abusing their authority, lying about it, and killing American citizens in the streets.

[00:04:54]ICE and CBP already have more money than they know what to do with. And with this budget resolution, you guys are moving heaven and earth to give them more instead of focusing in on affordability, focusing on kitchen table issues, focusing on bringing down the cost of living. If budgets are moral documents, your budget needs an exorcism.

[00:05:17]You're not even trying to reopen the rest of DHS with this plan. TSA and and and the Coast Guard, FEMA, they would still be shut down. I mean, while communities across the country continue to get hit with storms, floods, and wildfire fires, the agency that that that that is supposed to help, FEMA, is still not fully funded. Their workers aren't getting paid, and you guys are just sitting on a bipartisan Senate compromise that could get all of it back up and running. It's been sent over to you guys twice. It's pitiful.

[00:05:51]And when it comes to our overall fiscal health health, you guys are a disaster.

[00:05:56]You're okay sending billions of dollars to the Middle East on a war that nobody asked for or nobody wants. You're fine with giving billions of tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. DOJ was a disaster. It cost more money than it saved. And now you're trying to give up to $140 billion in additional funding to ICE and CBP after you stole that much and much more from from nutrition assistance for hungry families.

[00:06:23]And you want to pretend like any of that is is fiscally responsible? I mean, what a crock.

[00:06:29]This whole meeting, as far as I'm concerned, is insulting. No more money for our farmers, but plenty of money for a slush fund to murder American citizens. Pesticide companies getting massive new giveaways while hungry families get left behind. This is a disgrace, Madam Chair, and the American people know it.

[00:06:50]They know this Rules Committee meeting is not about affordability.

[00:06:54]They see this Republican Congress is not about lowering the cost of living. And they see that after over a year in power, this majority has failed to deliver and in fact has broken almost every promise. You guys only care about rewarding special interests, rewarding big donors, rewarding pesticide companies, rewarding big ag, rewarding those at the top, and you're betraying everyone you promised to help, including your own voters. So, as far as I'm concerned, a reckoning is coming in November. And for the people in my district who are getting screwed over by the policies of this Congress and this administration, the reckoning can't come soon enough. And I yield back.