President Biden Signs Supplemental Funding Package into Law

On Wednesday, President Biden signed into law a package of legislation to provide additional funding to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The package includes four bills introduced and passed in the House last week. The Senate voted to pass the bills on Tuesday evening. It passed in both chambers on highly bipartisan votes. The package includes $60.8 billion to support Ukraine, $26.4 billion to support Israel, and $8.1 billion to support Taiwan. The package also included a number of policies aimed at enhancing U.S. security against foreign threats.

House Agriculture Committee Aims for a May Markup

Staff for House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) has been conducting outreach to stakeholders as it prepares for a potential markup next month. The Chairman’s team has been refining their initial proposal based on feedback from their Democratic colleagues on their initial plan in hopes of having bipartisan support among members of the Committee. Current expectations are that the House Agriculture Committee will introduce and mark up a bill the week of May 20 ahead of the congressional recess for Memorial Day.

USDA and USTR Lead Trade Delegation to India

This week, officials from the Department of Agriculture and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative traveled to India to meet with government officials and private companies in hopes of furthering the trading relationship between the U.S. and India. The U.S. sees India as a key market opportunity for agricultural goods, citing positive movement from India on reducing tariffs on U.S. agricultural imports. While some structural challenges are still in place, U.S. officials expressed optimism for the future relationship between the two countries.