{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://adams.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-adams-and-brown-announce-gao-report-policy-considerations", "Reps. Adams and Brown Announce GAO Report on Policy Considerations for a Potential Farm Credit System Grant Program", "2023-12-15", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "Alma S. Adams", "A000370", "adams.house.gov", "adams", "https://adams.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. (Friday, December 15, 2023) \u2013 Today, Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12) and Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) announced the Government Accountability Office\u2019s (GAO) publication of a report outlining policy considerations for establishing a grant program at the Farm Credit System (FCS) geared toward socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.\n\n\u201cWe need more Black farmers,\u201d said Congresswoman Adams, a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee and the House sponsor of the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2023. \u201cThis report offers compelling considerations for what a grant program focused on underserved farmers might look like within the Farm Credit System, whose mission is dedicated to the public interest. The findings of this report offer insights into what could be one part of the many solutions we need to promote equity in our food and agriculture sectors.\u201d\n\nAs a government-sponsored enterprise that provides credit and other assistance to farmers, stakeholders suggest the Farm Credit System could benefit farmers who have historically been shut out of U.S. agriculture by generations of dispossession and discrimination.\n\n\u201cHelping more Black farmers and ranchers succeed would be good for America, good for agriculture, and Black communities across the country,\u201d said Congresswoman Brown. \u201cIncreased diversity would not only repair some of the damage done in the past, it would make the industry more resilient and innovative, because there is a lot of room to grow, including with urban farming. As a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, I\u2019ve been proud to work alongside Congresswoman Adams and my colleagues to shine a spotlight on this issue. This GAO report is a starting point for informing the policy discussions we should have going forward.\u201d\n\nJust as the Federal Home Loan Bank System\u2019s Affordable Housing Program helps finance affordable housing through interest rate subsidies and grants, advocates argue that a farmer-focused grant program within FCS banks could help fund the purchase of farmland by new and beginning farmers, promote the purchase of locally- and regionally-produced foods, or help farmers invest in climate-smart agricultural practices that are good for both the environment and the economy, among other benefits.\n\nThe report offers thorough considerations and challenges for policy \u2013 crafted in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders \u2013 that would undertake the task of establishing a grant program, including:\n\nHow program size and funding would affect FCS\u2019s mission,\n\nLegal challenges that such a program could face if designed improperly,\n\nHow a program would overlap and interact with existing federal programs, and\n\nExperiential, infrastructural, and staffing barriers to establishing a new program.\n\nThe report is available on the GAO\u2019s website, and a one-page summary of the report is available here. The report was written by GAO in response to a letter sent by Congresswoman Adams, Congresswoman Brown, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), and Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) last year.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://adams.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-adams-and-brown-announce-gao-report-policy-considerations"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8858661167323589, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}