{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=D20CE4ED-3C45-4B8D-96BC-1B2A92C89757", "Senator McConnell Advocates for Bourbon Industry During Senate Agriculture Hearing", "2025-05-07", "2025", "2025-05", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 During a hearing of the Senate Agriculture Committee, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) questioned Chris French, the Acting Associate Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, regarding the White Oak Resilience Act of 2025. Earlier this year, Senators McConnell and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced the bill to provide greater federal resources and direct research into safeguarding our nation\u2019s White Oak tree population. The bill requires the USDA and the Forest Service to coordinate research and conservation efforts, ensuring the White Oak a stable supply and a viable future.\n\nSenator McConnell said during the hearing that \u201cour iconic bourbon industry is critical to us. 95 percent of the bourbon in the world is made in Kentucky. The $9 billion industry supports agricultural, forestry, manufacturing, distilling, bottling, construction, and transportation jobs\u2026 just to name a few. Kentucky bourbon is synonymous with the White Oak tree, which is used to age our state\u2019s signature spirit in wooden barrels. Unfortunately, 75 percent of the nation\u2019s White Oak population is rated as mature, meaning that there will be a shortage of White Oaks within 30 years. Congress must act to ensure the preservation of this invaluable resource.\u201d\n\nSenator McConnell asked Mr. French about the Administration\u2019s support of the White Oak Resilience Act. Mr. French said, the USDA Forest Service is \u201cvery supportive\u201d of the overall intent of the McConnell/Warner bill, \u201cespecially with the loss that we are seeing [of White Oak trees] across the country.\u201d\n\nWhite Oak trees are vital to the environmental ecosystem, as well as several trademark American industries, like bourbon and furniture production. Considered the most important hardwood tree in the eastern United States, White Oak trees provide sustenance and shelter for a host of wildlife species across the country.\n\nWhite Oak trees can take up to 25 years to reach full maturity, but a lack of seedlings has created an impending shortage that threatens the future of this species and the billions of dollars in economic impact they generate nationwide. The bipartisan legislation will help reverse the depletion of this iconic tree and address the threat its extinction poses to the American economy.\n\nThe White Oak Resilience Act has been included in the Fix Our Forests Act. The Committee is expected to markup the bill later this month.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:20:29Z"]], "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://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=D20CE4ED-3C45-4B8D-96BC-1B2A92C89757"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4313869178295135, "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"}