{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://valadao.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=947", "Congressman Valadao Joins Bipartisan Bill to Support Drought Resilient Agricultural Practices", "2023-11-15", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "House", "CA", "David G. Valadao", "V000129", "valadao.house.gov", "valadao", "https://valadao.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Congressman David G. Valadao (CA-22) recently joined Reps. Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez (NM-03) and Chellie Pingree (ME-01) to introduce H.R. 5764, the Support Water-Efficient Strategies and Technologies (WEST) Act to support agriculture practices more commonly used in Western climates.\n\n\u201cOur farmers and producers in the Central Valley supply a quarter of our nation\u2019s food and the majority of our nation\u2019s fruits, nuts and vegetables,\u201d said Congressman Valadao. \u201cNearly all of our farmers in California have learned how to navigate drought conditions and unfair water allocations, and they know better than anyone how to conserve water and grow drought-resilient crops. The WEST Act would support the agriculture practices more commonly used in dry areas so that our farmers have the resources they need to continue growing the food that feeds the nation.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor generations, farmers and ranchers in New Mexico have been conserving water and growing drought-resilient crops in arid climates. Their crops feed our families and are distributed across America\u2019s tables,\u201d said Congresswoman Leger Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cHowever, we learned during our \u2018Farm-to-Congress\u2019 conversations that USDA conservation programs are sometimes targeted for wetter conditions found in the East and Midwest. This bill will help these essential programs work better for Western farmers and ranchers. I thank Congressman Valadao and Congresswoman Pingree for joining me in introducing the Support the WEST Act to support programs that help retain and conserve water. Our ranch and farming communities in the West deserve the same opportunities as those in other parts of our beautiful country. I am committed to getting this in the Farm Bill and across the finish line.\u201d\n\nThe WEST Act would support water-conserving Environmental Quality Incentives Programs (EQIP) practices as well as support perennial production systems and soil health \u2013 both of which help retain and conserve water. Specifically, the bill would:\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:01:09Z"]], "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://valadao.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=947"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9314068593084812, "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"}