Ranking Member Boozman Says White House’s Proposed USDA Budget “Fraught With Misplaced Priorities”

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, released the following statement about President Joe Biden’s proposed FY2023 budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA):

“The vision President Biden has laid out for USDA is fraught with misplaced priorities. Food inflation is higher than it has been in over 40 years. The international community is bracing for global food shortages. Yet the president remains focused on his climate agenda rather than the needs of our agriculture community and hardworking families struggling to put food on the table.

The word ‘climate’ appears over 100 times in USDA’s budget. It appears almost as often as the word ‘agriculture’ does. And, once again, President Biden has suggested raising taxes on hardworking family farmers and ranchers to pay for all this spending.

Thankfully, this proposal is nothing more than a blueprint. Congress has the final say in how money is allocated, and we already rejected President Biden’s Build Back Better plan. I suspect the White House’s attempt to repackage it in this budget proposal will meet the same fate.”