The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Introductory Statement on S. 2135” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the in the Senate section section on page S2228 on June 22.
The Department is primarily focused on food nutrition, with assistance programs making up 80 percent of its budget. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department implements too many regulations and restrictions and impedes the economy.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr.
Wyden):
S. 2135. A bill to require the Agricultural Research Service to conduct research relating to wildfire smoke exposure on wine grapes, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2023. This legislation will bolster research at land-
grant universities along the west coast to better understand the impacts of wildfire smoke on wine grapes.
Increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are threatening the long-term sustainability of important winegrowing regions. Vineyards, winery operations, and the communities they support are routinely facing the threat of wildfires that can not only destroy vineyards but even those vineyards that escape direct wildfire damage can still suffer from prolonged smoke exposure, which can be absorbed into grapes and create an ashy taste known as smoke taint.
The impact has been particularly acute for California's 4,800 wineries and 5,900 winegrape growers, who have seen significant property loss, loss of tourism, and loss of production due to smoke-
exposed grapes. The 2020 wildfires alone are estimated to have cost wineries and winegrape growers $3.7 billion both from immediate fire-
caused losses as well as losses in future sales due to unharvested grapes exposed to wildfire smoke.
Yet, there is a limited understanding of how to measure and identify compounds that cause smoke taint and even less understanding of the mitigation and risk management measures necessary to reduce these impacts.
Recognizing the dearth of information and how much is at stake for the wine industry, Congress provided $5 million to the USDA to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint and to develop mitigation methods to reduce or eliminate smoke taint.
This was a great first step, but we need more. That is what my bill would do.
The Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2023 would provide $32.5 million over 5 years to ensure the sustainability of the wine industry in the face of climate crisis.
Specifically, this bill would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, in coordination with land-
grant universities and researchers with viticulture and enology expertise, to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint; establish standard sampling, testing, and screening tools for use in vineyards and wineries; and develop new risk assessment tools, mitigation measures, and management strategies for growers.
As researchers from the University of California Davis, Washington State University, and Oregon State University explain in recent research, the impact of smoke taint is not predictable.
We cannot currently predict which grapes may have suffered damage based on anything intuitive, such as sight, smell, or even the flavor of fresh grapes. ``Freshness of the smoke, number of times exposed, variety of grape--the list goes on. There's so much we don't know.''
That is why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act, to ensure we have strong science-based data for actual risk management and mitigation tools to protect the U.S. wine industry.
I would like to thank my colleague, Representative Mike Thompson, for his leadership bolstering California winegrowing communities and championing this bill in the House.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act as quickly as possible.
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