Austin Scott Defends Glyphosate Against 'False Narratives' & Calls Glyphosate Lawsuits 'Unfortunate'

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During a House Agriculture Committee hearing in July, Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) spoke about glyphosate, a chemical herbicide which is used in Roundup, a Monsanto product which is linked to Hodgkins Lymphoma. Monsanto has paid out an estimated $11 billion in claims related to Roundup.

Transcript

00:00Now I recognize the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Austin Scott, first, for five minutes.

00:07Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:09I can honestly tell you the last thing I did before I left home was to mix 15 gallons of glyphosate,

00:17spray a bunch of weeds, and I've been using that product effectively for over 30 years.

00:23And I think it's unfortunate what's happened.

00:26I think the litigation and the false narrative around that product is something that we need to pay attention to

00:36because it's been very effective at taking something that we need off of the markets in the United States.

00:42And it's expensive.

00:44And farmers don't just buy chemicals for the sake of buying chemicals, right?

00:48I mean, and the new technology is expensive.

00:51And one of the things I don't think we talk enough about is the land-grant institutions and research

00:57and then the extension that has to come with that research for our ag communities to produce the products

01:03that we all depend on being on the shelves when the other 98 or 99 percent of Americans

01:10that aren't involved in agriculture go to the grocery store.

01:13So, with that said, and again, going back to the land-grant institutions,

01:18how can industry and producers more effectively partner with the land-grant institutions

01:24to not only accelerate the development of these technologies

01:27but ensure their practical deployment on the farm?

01:32And what additional support or policy initiatives might strengthen these collaborations

01:37to benefit both the innovation and the extension that's necessary for farmer adoption?

01:46Any of you can answer that question, please.

01:50That's a great question.

01:52I think the first thing that we can do is recognize the role that extension does play

01:58in new product discovery, new ingredient discovery, workforce development.

02:03I'm sure in this committee, there's any of you had a stint in an extension lab at some point

02:08doing research or maybe took a class for an extension professor.

02:13So, I think recognizing that the extension's role in the supply chain process

02:19and in the innovation process is key.

02:21And I know my extension colleagues, you know, they're sometimes strapped for that funding.

02:27They need to do the work.

02:28And I think what we could do is help, you know, give back to those extension researchers

02:32and make sure that they're getting the work done in the field that needs to get done.

02:41Sir, we see in California, we have the University of California

02:46and we have the University of California Ag and Natural Resources Department.

02:51We know that the research done on many of the land-grant colleges and universities

02:58does get transformed to the growers through the ag extension service.

03:05We have relationships with them on farm.

03:09And we actually work with some of the researchers directly with the universities

03:13to do cutting-edge technology on our farm

03:17so that we can show other people some of the new advances

03:20that can be applicable really throughout California and the world.

03:26So, having the connection between the university and the advisors

03:32is critical for getting information out to growers.

03:35Mr. Abbott, I'm going to come to you with another question, if I can,

03:38down to a minute and a half.

03:39But I do want to express one other concern that I have,

03:42and it is the accumulation of this technology by China through ChemChina

03:46and I think we're being naive as Americans to think that allowing somebody

03:56who is now our no longer an aggressive economic competitor

04:00but actually an adversary to control the chemicals that we need in the food supply chain,

04:05that that's not going to come back to bite us.

04:07Mr. Abbott, in your testimony, you provided an overview on the challenging delays

04:11occurring at the EPA related to the regulatory review.

04:15I know you spoke to this, but with more than half a billion dollars

04:19in post-patent formulation improvement products stuck in that review,

04:23can you elaborate to the committee why timely access to these innovations

04:26is just as important, if not more important, than the new chemistry?

04:30Mr. Abbott, because it puts us in a better spot.

04:34We need to remain competitive, because otherwise we just hand it over,

04:39to your point, the Chinese, right?

04:41They're going to come in and they're going to take no prisoners, so to speak,

04:44to paraphrase there.

04:46So I think to get our growers in a competitive situation,

04:50we need to make sure we continue to quickly push those through,

04:54especially when the chemistries have been around for quite some time.

04:58Mr. Yes, sir.

04:59Gentlemen, thank you for being here.

05:01I look forward to continuing the discussion.

05:03I do think, hopefully, we'll see bipartisan efforts to solve these problems.

05:09With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield for one second.

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