I support removing restrictions on the export of crude oil from the United States and urge my colleagues to vote in support of H.R. 702.

Given that USDA and HHS are still reviewing comments, we’re probably getting ahead of ourselves here. But I do hope that today’s testimony can shed more light on the process to establish new guidelines and what they will actually mean for our constituents.

The bill and proposed amendments before us will provide legal certainty to end users using the swaps market to hedge legitimate business risks. As we all know, end users had nothing to do with the financial crisis and should not be regulated as such.

We are focusing on stakeholder perspectives today and I think the groups before us should all be commended for the work that they do around the globe. The partnerships with private organizations, millers and shippers have allowed the United States to deliver more than $80 billion in international food aid since World War II.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 2051. This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the Mandatory Price Reporting Act, the National Forest Foundation Act and the U.S. Grain Standards Act. This bill continues the tradition of bipartisan, bicameral work done by the Agriculture Committees.

USDA’s work covers a lot of ground. Given the size and scope of the department it’s good that we understand the full picture of the work being done in the various mission areas.

The letter urged continued assistance in three areas – complete biosecurity research in a timely manner to ensure industry can take immediate steps before fall, complete bilateral trade talks with international partners to ensure vaccine usage will not harm export sales, and complete research and development of a viable commercial vaccine.

I think USDA and my state of Minnesota have done good work. And they continue to do a good job addressing the situation. It hasn’t been perfect but perfection is hard to come by in times of crisis. Now is the time to go over lessons learned that will help us develop a better plan if we have a future outbreak.

I look forward to hearing our witnesses’ views on the areas that need more work, particularly what they feel would be the most appropriate role for Congress to support Chairman Massad in his efforts to coordinate the CFTC’s rules with those of foreign regulators.

Importantly, the bill changes the current review process to ensure that every new genetically engineered plant destined to enter the market goes through an FDA safety review. The bill also sets a national, uniform standard to define genetically engineered products. Food producers and processors choosing to market their products as non-GE will be able to do so with a USDA-backed label.