{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-on-the-senate-floor-proud-of-nebraska-farmers-and-ranchers/", "Ricketts on the Senate Floor: Proud of Nebraska Farmers and Ranchers", "2026-05-20", "2026", "2026-05", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Pete Ricketts", "R000618", "www.ricketts.senate.gov", "ricketts", "https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list&pagenum=", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) expressed his support for Nebraska farmers and ranchers and highlighted Nebraska\u2019s leadership in beef and renewable fuels. May is Beef Month and Renewable Fuels Month.\n\nSenator Ricketts also discussed the MARKET Act, legislation he introduced today to identify new export markets for American ag products and ensure our farmers and ranchers are not beholden to Communist China.\n\n\u201cLast week the Senate passed my resolution to proclaim May as Beef Month throughout the entire country, and again, this is our leading industry in Nebraska, the beef industry,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cWe are the leading state for exporting beef, $1.7 billion worth. We\u2019re a leader in the categories that describe beef. In fact, we\u2019ve got over 6 million head of cattle. We\u2019ve got the three highest beef-producing counties in the country, in Nebraska. We\u2019re very proud of our beef industry, and of course it\u2019s the best-tasting beef in the entire world\u2026It\u2019s also Renewable Fuels Month, and Nebraska is again a leader in renewable fuels \u2014 2.2 billion gallons. Not only is this important for creating jobs in our small towns and rural communities, but this is one of the ways that consumers can save money at the pump.\u201d\n\n\u201cCommunist China, at the end of the day, is a bad trading partner. We need to make sure we hold them accountable for the commitments they make, and I expect this administration will do just that,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cThey have a track record of doing that. In addition, we need to look at diversifying our export markets. That is why I am introducing the MARKET Act. The MARKET Act would instruct the US Department of Agriculture and the US Trade Representative to look at ways that we can mitigate our dependence on Communist China and look for new markets.\u201d\n\nWatch the video HERE.\n\nTRANSCRIPT:\n\nSenator Ricketts: \u201cMr. President, I am proud to represent the great state of Nebraska.\n\n\u201cAgriculture is our number one industry in Nebraska, and I\u2019m also proud to represent our farmers and ranchers, who are the best in the world.\n\n\u201cAgriculture is the heart and soul of what we do in our state of Nebraska.\n\n\u201cWe produce the finest products, the safest food.\n\n\u201cWe feed and fuel our great nation.\n\n\u201cNow it\u2019s no secret that our farmers and ranchers have had some challenges.\n\n\u201cWe have seen low commodity prices and high input costs.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve also seen a drought in my state, as well as wildfires that are the worst in our state\u2019s history, burning over a million acres.\n\n\u201cBut our farmers and ranchers, they\u2019re tough and resilient.\n\n\u201cThey find ways to come together and get through the tough times, they contribute to their communities, and despite all this, they continue to invest to make sure that we have a strong agricultural sector in Nebraska \u2014 and this is also important for our country.\n\n\u201cFood security is national security.\n\n\u201cLast week the Senate passed my resolution to proclaim May as Beef Month throughout the entire country, and again, this is our leading industry in Nebraska, the beef industry.\n\n\u201cWe are the leading state for exporting beef, $1.7 billion worth.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re a leader in the categories that describe beef.\n\n\u201cIn fact, we\u2019ve got over 6 million head of cattle.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got the three highest beef-producing counties in the country, in Nebraska.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re very proud of our beef industry, and of course it\u2019s the best-tasting beef in the entire world, even if the president doesn\u2019t agree with that right now, being from Montana.\n\n\u201cSo we\u2019re very, very proud of that.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s also Renewable Fuels Month, and Nebraska is again a leader in renewable fuels \u2014 2.2 billion gallons.\n\n\u201cNot only is this important for creating jobs in our small towns and rural communities, but this is one of the ways that consumers can save money at the pump.\n\n\u201cLast time I filled up on E10, a 10% blend of ethanol, I saved 55 cents a gallon at my local Hy-Vee.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s also a great way to help clean up the environment, and of course it\u2019s great for our farmers and ranchers \u2014 also great for our country.\n\n\u201cThere are estimates that our renewable fuels industry, which is so great for our corn farmers and soybean farmers, also displaces about 640 million barrels of foreign oil.\n\n\u201cThat means we are less dependent on foreign sources of energy.\n\n\u201cThis is again a great way for consumers to save money, but also for us to strengthen our energy independence \u2014 American first energy independence.\n\n\u201cOur homegrown solution is biofuels.\n\n\u201cNow, at the summit last week, where President Trump was in Beijing, we heard good news with regard to potential additional purchases of American agricultural products.\n\n\u201cUS Trade Representative Jameson Greer said there\u2019ll be double-digit billions of dollars of additional agricultural product purchases over 2026, 2027, and 2028 \u2014 maybe $17 billion in each of those years.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s on top of the 25 million metric tons that Communist China agreed to buy last year in October.\n\n\u201cThat certainly is good news for our farmers.\n\n\u201cWhat we need is to make sure that we hold Communist China accountable for those purchases.\n\n\u201cWe need to recall that in the first Trump administration, they signed the Phase One trade deal with Communist China, but as soon as President Trump was out of office, China reneged on that deal.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve seen them capriciously turn away cargo ships of our corn; they\u2019ve delisted our beef processors.\n\n\u201cCommunist China, at the end of the day, is a bad trading partner.\n\n\u201cWe need to make sure we hold them accountable for the commitments they make, and I expect this administration will do just that.\n\n\u201cThey have a track record of doing that.\n\n\u201cIn addition, we need to look at diversifying our export markets.\n\n\u201cThat is why I am introducing the MARKET Act.\n\n\u201cThe MARKET Act would instruct the US Department of Agriculture and the US Trade Representative to look at ways that we can mitigate our dependence on Communist China and look for new markets.\n\n\u201cLast year, through the Working Families Tax Cut, we put an additional $285 million \u2014 double the amount of money \u2014 for trade promotion, to be able to find new markets for our farmers and ranchers.\n\n\u201cMy MARKET Act would require USDA and USTR to work together to look for new markets and to come back with a report to Congress on how we can further expand those and mitigate the risks of being dependent upon adversaries like Communist China.\n\n\u201cDo we need to take legislative action or regulatory action?\n\n\u201cThis will help make sure that we continue to be able to expand the trade that is so important for agricultural states like Nebraska.\n\n\u201cAbout a third of everything that we grow in Nebraska gets exported overseas.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re the fifth largest ag-exporting state.\n\n\u201cThese markets overseas are important to our strong economy in Nebraska.\n\n\u201cMy MARKET Act will help make sure we continue to look for opportunities to be able to grow that.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m proud of our farmers and ranchers.\n\n\u201cThey do a great job of feeding our great nation.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m proud to be able to continue to support them here in Washington, DC.\u201d", 1, "2026-05-21T06:28:16Z", "2026-05-21T06:29:43Z"]], "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.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-on-the-senate-floor-proud-of-nebraska-farmers-and-ranchers/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7405538819730282, "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"}