Every five years, Congress must vote to reauthorize the farm bill, a piece of legislation that funds a number of important farm, food, and forestry programs that provide critical support for America’s agriculture industry and affect the economic well-being of millions of people.

With the farm bill set to expire at the end of September, the clock is ticking. As the chairwoman of the New Democrat Coalition’s Farm Bill Task Force, I will have a key role in shaping the farm bill policy for the almost 100-member coalition. I’m committed to ensuring Congress takes action to reauthorize and enhance existing programs, address new challenges, and provide certainty to America’s growers and producers.

As New Dems, we are wholeheartedly committed to developing and advancing commonsense solutions to the greatest problems facing our agricultural communities across the country. As a pediatrician, I’ve spent my career working with children and families to ensure they lead the healthiest lives possible.

Failure to pass a robust farm bill would have devastating consequences in my home state of Washington and across America.

Programs that provide crop insurance, support agricultural research, and bolster trade and market access for farmers would go unfunded. Forestry and conservation programs that financially support farmers and safeguard farmland and wilderness areas would lose funding in the face of increasingly common and unpredictable extreme weather events. Millions of people who rely on nutrition programs such as SNAP to put food on the table would be faced with renewed uncertainty.

This doesn’t have to become our reality.

Last month marked 58 years since the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, ushering in long-overdue voter protections to protect Black Americans from the evils wrought under Jim Crow. 

But the landscape we are facing in 2023 is one where I fear our history is repeating itself.

Our elections should reflect the will of the people, not the will of politicians. But across our country, and especially in Southern states (like my beloved state, North Carolina), we are continually seeing politicians launch calculated and unethical attacks against our freedom to vote. These underhanded efforts range from manipulating our voting maps to diluting the voting power of communities of color to rolling back mail-in and early voting options that are widely used methods for many voters of color. 

There are small things to celebrate, however. The U.S. Supreme Court delivered some much-needed relief this term in two consequential decisions, Allen v. Milligan and Moore v. Harper, that kept intact some critical protections against these brazen attempts to grab power by any means. 

First, in Allen v. Milligan, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the state of Alabama and reaffirmed the Voting Rights Act’s role in stopping politicians from diminishing the voting power of Black and brown communities. 

Then, in Moore v. Harper, the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the dangerous, and reckless, “independent state legislatures theory” that sought to give state legislatures unchecked power to change elections laws without facing the scrutiny of state judicial reviews. 

This fringe case stemmed from a desperate attempt by a group of highly partisan legislators to overturn a fair maps victory that Common Cause and other voting rights advocates secured in my home state of North Carolina. Before being elected to Congress, I spent a decade serving in the North Carolina General Assembly and saw firsthand the extreme lengths some of my colleagues would go to tip the scales in undemocratic efforts to maintain one-party rule.

While relieved that we held the line in these court cases that risked upending the fundamental rules of our democracy, I know this is not a time to rest. 

This week, New Dems and Republican Governance Group Chair Dave Joyce (OH-14) welcomed USAFacts Founder Steve Ballmer for a bipartisan roundtable. Members engaged in a constructive conversation about how USAFacts’ comprehensive and impartial data is critical to inform policy decisions and measure the impact of Congress’ work.

Yesterday, New Dems welcomed White House Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu to our weekly Member meeting! Our Members had a productive conversation with Landrieu about his work implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the impact these investments are having on the ground in communities across America.

Last week, Forbes published an article and interview with Rep. Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) on the letter he led with NDC Immigration and Border Security Task Force Chair Greg Stanton (AZ-04) to Speaker McCarthy urging him to bring the Administration’s proposed supplemental funding legislation to the House floor.

The Administration’s request provides critical resources to border communities, including $4 billion to secure the border and streamline immigration processes and nearly $800 million to address the flow of illicit fentanyl into the country.