Moolenaar Questions Secretary of Agriculture in Oversight Hearing
Today, Congressman John Moolenaar questioned Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins during an Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture budget hearing. During the hearing, Moolenaar praised the Trump administration’s efforts to support Michigan farmers and requested information from Rollins on how her department is confronting threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
“I appreciate the Department of Agriculture's efforts to ensure USDA programs deliver for Michigan farmers and they can compete on a global stage. USDA is on the front lines protecting our food security and ensuring American farmland is not purchased by our adversaries like the CCP. I remain committed to working with the administration on strengthening farm programs, stopping the CCP from buying American farmland, and ensuring rural communities have the tools they need to succeed,” said Moolenaar.
Moolenaar is the only member of the House Appropriations Committee from the State of Michigan and the Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
Full video of Moolenaar’s questioning can be found here. A transcript of Moolenaar’s questioning is included below.
Congressman John Moolenaar: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Madame Secretary, Thanks for being here today, and also for visiting Michigan last week. And we appreciate all you and President Trump are doing to support our farmers in Michigan. A few questions, this may have come up in some of your meetings, but our domestic sugar producers in Michigan, we have sugarbeet growers and family farmers are being undercut by foreign competitors, and I wonder if you could talk about the actions you’re taking to ensure that out sugar producers are being treated fairly.
Secretary Brooke Rollins: I think that sugar is the top of the list. Certainly, I had the seafood guys in yesterday, we opened the Office of Seafood the first time USDA has ever had that to offer so many programs there to our seafood producers, our farmers of the sea. Whether it is seafood, where it’s sugar, a lot of our citrus growers, the crushing that has happened by foreign imports is real, and it has devastated so many of our industries. It is unbelievable. Sugar obviously remains a priority, I know it was included in the last farmer bridge assistance payment. We will continue to make it a priority and welcome the conversations anytime on that. I think that this President and our US Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer, whom I speak with almost daily at this point, is very focused on ensuring we are America First and we are protecting our American food growers. Obviously USMCA is coming up for renegotiation we’ve got a lot going on around the world, but anything you hear Congressman, that you think will be helpful for me anyway, anyway I can lean in. I’ve visited some sugar growers in Florida. I didn’t get a chance to go in Michigan, to the beets, been up in Minnesota with the beets. But would love to get more involved in that but we are making progress. Bui it does need to remain a priority, national security, etc.
Congressman Moolenaar: Thank you, I appreciate also you mentioned your Farm Security Action Plan, one of your priorities is to stop China from buying up our farmland. Could you outline what you’re doing to prevent our farmland from being controlled by China?
Secretary Rollins: This is, if not everyone in this room including all of you, who I am speak to today, I don’t know that there is a more perilous threat in front of us that the international purchasing- foreign adversaries, and otherwise, but certainly foreign adversaries of our farmland and our agricultural companies. In 1983, China about 2000 acres in America. Today, they own 300,000 acres of what was good American farmland. A lot of it around military bases, et cetera. We’ve been working with all of you, I think we got it really close, we didn’t make it to the finish line, to the President’s desk for a Congressional directive on that. But in the meantime, working alongside all of the states. I am very big believer in the ability of the states to act as guardians of the gate on key issues like that and some of our - a lot of our states - about 20, have really leaned in and have passed legislation. Arkansas, I think has been probably the most forward leaning, Sarah Sanders there not only passed barring the future sale of farmland, but also has begun clawing some of it back, and I think is a really important piece of this puzzle as we move forward. So, I look forward to continuing work with all of you to champion this here in Washington. But as we wait for Washington to move forward on that, the Sates can actually make good advancements and I am working with a lot of those governors on that.
Congressman Moolenaar: Thank you, and also just the area of research security in our agriculture research service, I want to put that on your radar screen, because we know China is also engaging in the coordinated effort to steal US technology and intellectual priority.
Secretary Rollins: that is exactly right, and I was with Michigan State in your great land grant on Monday, we actually talked about this specifically, there have been cases in America. Our USDA has - our OIG working with Secret Service and others have arrested some of our students from other countries who have been caught red-handed, basically trying to steal our secrets, but also trying to disrupt our system. So, this will continue to be a major issue.
Congressman Moolenaar: Thank you very much, I yield back.