of the house of representatives pursuant to the order of the house of january fourth two thousand and seven the chair will now recognize members from lists of mid by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to twenty five minutes and each member other than the majority and minority leaders in the minority whip limited to five minutes each but in no event shall debate continue beyond nine fifty a m the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon with the blue an hour for five minutes thank you mr speaker the farm bill is described as the most important legislation that most of america ignores its big complex involves lots of money all over the country but the details are not well known one of the reasons might be the name we call it a farm bill but it could perhaps should be called a food bill because that's what it is many people do not understand that the farm bill isn't just about farmers it is a bill that funds food stamps nutritional programs and farmers markets the programs we're talking about all impact rural urban and suburban families alike currently our farm programs provide too little help to the majority of american farmers and ranchers the majority of commodity payments go to a few large scale farm operations with only forty percent of the farmers receiving any commodity payments at all my state of oregon is an example even though it is a major agricultural producer it really doesn't benefit that much from the farm bill with the two thousand seven farm bill reauthorization we have a chance to make dramatic reforms in american agricultural policy by crafting forward looking policies to help farmers manage the transition to a new farm economy i would suggest some basic principles for strengthening the farm bill that we insure the future of american agriculture by giving small farmers the increased markets they need a dependable workforce the ability to pass their farms and heritage on to the next generation and be protected from urban sprawl farmworkers also need say family wage jobs and rural communities need a stronger economy we need to provide safe access to nutritious and reliable food for all americans especially the most vulnerable members of our communities children the elderly and the poor we need to increase the health and safety of our communities by improving access to local markets that can improve farmers revenues improve rural economies and strengthen the vital connections between urban and rural communities we can have programs to reimburse farmers for providing environmental services such as flood control carbon sinks and wildlife habitat and help reduce global warming increase communities reliance and resilience to natural events and give farmers the opportunity to diversify their revenue stream in short we can move american agriculture into the twenty first century not by being devoted to policies from the last two hundred years to that end i've recently introduced the local food and farm support act two connect local farms to schools to provide healthy food choices for children i'm promoting a stronger local farm economy by providing funding and programs that connect farmers to local mark including schools and cafeteria programs and the promotion of farmers markets this legislation would provide grants to farmers to explore innovative new ways to connect to local markets and increase food assistance for senior and low income families mr speaker i could go on to just as easily to talk about the farm bill as being the most important piece of environmental legislation we will consider in this congress because the potential for energy with bio mass wind greenhouse gas reductions and energy conservation all unable us to reduce the carbon and energy footprint of american bashed agricultural landscape in the area of water sound farm bill is the best and most cost effective way to improve the quality and quantity for water across america and of course it's sensual to land concer of preservation this is why we all need to pay attention to this critical legislation all all every member of congress should deal with the challenge to work with america's farmers and ranchers to produce agricultural legislation that meets the needs of america chair recognizes the the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois mr caskey for five minutes thank you mr speaker last week i accepted the food stamp challenge living for the past week on the average food stamp benefit of one dollar per meal or twenty one dollars for the entire week i did it in order to draw attention to the persistent problem of hunger and america i didn't realize just how hard it would be but on my first shopping trip to safeway i quickly found out it was hard enough to buy basic staples but once i got to the produce section it was impossible to buy much of anything there was no there was no way to eat a nutritious diet fruits and vegetables were simply out of my price range for me it was a learning experience for twenty six million americans and one point two million illinois and it is a way of life i wonder how parents on food  stretch their budgets so their children have enough to eat or how seniors with chronic illness afford both eating nutritious meals and purchasing adequate medication the answer for many they simply ca in the richest country in the world the fact that families face the sort of trade off is unjust and i would say it's immoral the united states is spending nearly three billion dollars each week in iraq yet we expect  hungry americans to eat three dollars a day we need to pass jim mcgovern representatives jim mcgovern and joanne emerson's feeding america's families act which would strengthen america's anti hunger safety net programs including food stamps at a reasonable and in full and affordable cost of about four billion dollars per year these are the kinds of provisions that ought to be part of the farm bill which includes the food stamp program i just ended this challenge yesterday i'm looking forward to big salad for for lunch why include all kinds of vegetables that the vegetables at the salad bar that in the cafeteria adding whatever i want to that to that salad rather than having to carefully pick and choose what i had last week was one head of lettuce and one tomato and a few carrots and that was about it my snacks were world water and on a a good moment ice water and so it was it was an interesting and instruct week for me but imagining my children and grandchildren having to live that way made it very very clear to me that this really ought not to be a forced option for so many millions of americans we can do better this is a matter of priorities we can change those priorities we can make sure that with pride we say that no one in this country goes hungry that everyone in this country at least has the opportunity to make healthy choices about the food that that they eat and the food that they serve their children how can a child learn in school when they come without an adequate breakfast how can they achieve in life without the nutrition that they need as their bones are growing as their minds are growing and so i am very hopeful that the experiment that i did with congressman mcgovern and emerson and tim ryan will prove to be a helpful in making sure that we are able to pass more humane and important to all americans legislation that will provide nutritious and affordable food for all of our residents in the united states thank you pursuant to clause twelve a of we want to chair declares the house in recess until ten i am today