Hoyer Remarks at Press Availability Following Tour of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) delivered the following remarks at a press availability with Maryland Delegation members following a tour of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville, Maryland:

"Thank you very much, Angela [Alsobrooks] and Senator Van Hollen. Thank you for getting us together here. I represented Beltsville Agricultural Research Center for decades. I've been here scores of times. Every time I come here, I'm amazed at the quality of work and the quality of research that Nobel Prize winners have worked [to do] at this facility. This land, by the way, is owned by the U.S. taxpayer. I have been at hundreds of press conferences in front of a federal building during my career on federal property. This is not about politics, this is about policy. This is not about politics, this is about rationally organizing our agricultural community so that they can succeed and be the best at what they do in the world, such as the Senator - Senators, have pointed out, Beltsville is. [State] Senator Rosapepe has represented this area forever. The House Delegation as well. I want to thank them for the focus that they bring to our state.

"I introduced legislation in 1986 on an appropriations bill that said you cannot close BARC without the Congress' authorization. I pray that the Congress will not give that authorization because the synergy that is a - it's a big campus. It's mostly ground and trees and vegetables and livestock, et cetera, et cetera. There are buildings here as well. Some need repair, but what doesn't need repair are the people who work here. It's not the bricks and mortar, it is the people, the extraordinary talent that has been aggregated here at Beltsville Agricultural and Research Center, which has produced those Nobel Prize [winners], which has produced what Senator Van Hollen and Senator Alsobrooks outlined as a result of that research.

"This is about the American people. This is about the American people's welfare. This is about the American people's health and safety. And so we, as a delegation in the Congress of the United States, along with Glenn Ivey, who does, in fact, represent Beltsville at this point time, as do the two Senators. We're gonna fight this, for the American people, for the [agricultural] community, not only here, but around the country, who all rely on the research here at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

"Now, I could talk about the number of employees that we lost, the number of employees here, all of that, but I represent Pax River. That's the Navy - Naval Air Research Development Test and Evaluation Facility. Back in 1992, the federal government made the determination to aggregate and put together - you've been there, Chris [Van Hollen], Angela, we're going to have you here - put together in the synergy of having all those experts together makes a geometric difference. That's what they're fighting about. That's what we need to do for America. That's what we need to do for our people, and that's what we need to do for the world, that relies on us for the best, up-to-date research they can get to make their people safe and healthy. We talk about 'Make America Healthy Again,' you're not going to make America healthy again if you reduce the ability of this facility, unique in the world, to research how to do that. I now yield to my colleague and Representative from this area, Glenn Ivey."