Federal Budget, Jobs, & the Economy

Columbus, GA – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) released the following statement today announcing the award of a continuing grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to assist Enrichment Services Program, Inc. (ESP) programs in Georgia. Head Start grants are used to promote quality school readiness for children from birth to five years old who come from low income families.

PERRY, GA – Yesterday, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) joined Tom McCall, Georgia House Agriculture Committee Chairman; John Wilkinson, Georgia Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman; Gary Black, Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture; Bo Warren, Director at the Georgia Department of Agriculture; Amy Oneacre, Policy Manager with the Georgia Department of Revenue; Jud Turner, Director at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division; Lt.

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) released the following statement today after the House, in a 392 to 31 bipartisan vote, passed the bipartisan Senate-passed legislation addressing student loan rates, which doubled on July 1st, sending the bill to the President’s desk for his signature.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, offered a testimony in favor of the nomination of USDA Deputy Secretary Nominee Krysta Harden at the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. A picture of the Senate hearing and the text of Congressman Bishop’s testimony are below:

“Good morning Madame Chairwoman Stabenow, Senator Cochran, and members of the Committee.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last month, the Farm Bill was defeated on the floor of the House of Representatives by a series of ‘poison pill’ amendments that would weaken nutrition assistance for our nation’s poor. Today, a new and controversial version of the Farm Bill, H.R. 2642, Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act, was reintroduced for a vote, completely dropping the historically included nutrition benefits. In protest, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – H.R. 1947, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARRM Act) was killed on the floor of the House of Representatives by a series of ‘poison pill’ amendments. Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA) released a statement regarding the missed opportunity to provide our nation’s farmers and ranchers a farm bill with the necessary tools and stability to continue producing the safest, most abundant, and most affordable food and fiber in the world.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) took action to force an up-or-down vote by signing a discharge petition to bring up a bill he has cosponsored, H.R. 1595: the Student Loan Relief Act of 2013. The bill would freeze the interest rate on these loans at 3.4% for the next two years, giving Congress time to enact comprehensive student loan reform as part of a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, many students across the nation are burdened with rising student loan debt. In an effort to keep college loans affordable, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) has signed on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 1595, the Student Loan Relief Act of 2013, which would extend the current subsidized Stafford student loan rate of 3.4% for two years. If action is not taken, the interest rate will double to 6.8% on July 1, 2013 due to the expiration of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act enacted in 2007 and extended for one year in 2012.