Agriculture | Congresswoman Jackie Walorski

Walorski Statement on Indiana Global Business Center Announcement from Planned Dow, Dupont Merger

MISHAWAKA, IND. – Rep. Jackie Walorski (IN-02) issued the following statement after news that DowDupont will located its Global Business Center in Indiana:

“Indiana’s agriculture industry continues to lead the nation in innovation and ingenuity,” Walorski said. “With a Global Business Center in Indiana, it will only further our progress and development of Hoosier farmers as they continue to make advancements in our industry in partnership with DowDupont.”

Yesterday, DuPont and The Dow Chemical Company announced the U.S. site structure for the global agriculture leader the companies intend to create following the planned separation of DowDupont into three independent, publicly traded companies. The corporate headquarters for the Agriculture company will be located in Wilmington, Delaware, and will include the office of the CEO and key corporate support functions. Sites in Indianapolis and Johnston, Iowa, will also serve as Global Business Centers, with leadership of business lines, business support functions, R&D, global supply chain, and sales and marketing capabilities concentrated in the two Midwest locations.

Walorski represents the 2nd Congressional District in Indiana, where she serves as a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, House Armed Services Committee and House Committee on Agriculture.

Walorski Votes to Support Easing Nutrition Labeling for Restaurants

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Jackie Walorski (IN-02), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Nutrition, today issued the following statement after supporting legislation to ease nutrition labeling requirements for restaurants and stores originally imposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“The menu labeling regulations released by the FDA are impractical and unnecessarily expensive,” Walorski said. “Forcing our hardworking businesses to spend money and countless hours adhering to the complicated rules is the biggest misuse of their time. Instead, they should be focused on creating jobs and strengthening our economy – not on paperwork. This commonsense legislation will simplify the overcomplicated rules mandated by yet another federal government agency that has run amok.”

H.R. 2017, the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, would limit FDA regulations requiring restaurants with twenty or more locations to display calorie counts and nutrition information. It would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue new rules to allow a food establishment to post nutritional information exclusively on its website if the majority of its orders are placed online, and aims to protect establishments from being sued for human error.

The bill passed the House by a vote of 266-144 and now heads to the Senate for further consideration.

Walorski Meets Notre Dame Grad, Professional Basketball Player, Ruth Riley

Riley Testified Before Walorski’s Nutrition Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Jackie Walorski (IN-02), chairwoman of the Nutrition Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee, today met with former University of Notre Dame basketball player Ruth Riley before Riley testified before Walorski’s subcommittee hearing, “Past, Present, and Future of SNAP: Breaking the Cycle”.

Riley played for the University of Notre Dame and was a member of the 2001 National Championship Women’s Team, won an WNBA Championship with the Detroit Shock, and also won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic team. She has used her platform as a professional basketball player to serve as an ambassador for Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organization committed to ending childhood hunger, as part of their No Kid Hungry campaign. Riley used her personal history as a child raised in a single-parent household that relied on food stamps and free-and-reduced lunches and community service experience to testify at the hearing.

Walorski represents the 2nd Congressional District in Indiana, where she serves as a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, House Armed Services Committee, and House Committee on Agriculture.

Walorski Announces G.R.O.W. Tour

MISHAWAKA, IN – Rep. Jackie Walorski (IN-02) today announced details for her upcoming Get Regulation Out of The Way (GROW) tour where she will travel the Second Congressional District to hear how federal regulations have impacted farmers, business owners, and manufacturers.

According to the American Action Forum, the Obama administration has issued over 500 major federal regulations costing taxpayers, including small business owners and manufacturers, almost $2 trillion in compliance. A ‘major’ regulation is anything expected to have a $100 million annual effect on the economy.

Last week, Walorski supported legislation to prevent burdensome federal regulations from crushing manufacturers with unnecessary costs. H.R. 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which requires any rule or regulation with an economic impact of $100 million or more to come before Congress for a vote before taking effect.

Wednesday, August 12

Elkhart County

9 a.m. ET – Walorski will tour Superior Oil

Media are welcome to attend

1030 All Pro Drive, Elkhart, IN 46514

St. Joseph County

10:35 a.m. ET – Walorski will tour Plastic Solutions, Inc.

Media are welcome to attend

3615 Voorde Drive, South Bend, IN 46628

Marshall County

12:25 p.m. ET – Walorski will tour Nishikawaka Standard Co LLC (NISCO aka Cooper Standard)
Media are welcome to attend

501 High Road, Bremen, IN 46506

Pulaski County

2:55 p.m. ET – Walorski will tour U.S. Aggregates, Inc.
Media are welcome to attend

14530 W 700 S, Francesville, IN 47946

Starke County

4:45 p.m. ET – Walorski will tour Hoosier Custom Plastics

Media are welcome to attend

201 Hamilton Drive, Knox, IN 46534

LaPorte County

6:35 p.m. ET – Walorski speak to members of the Indiana Corn and Soybean Alliance

Media are welcome to attend

5702 E 100 S, Mill Creek, IN 46365

Thursday, August 13

Kosciusko County

9:00 a.m. ET – Walorski visit Shatto Ditch

Media are welcome to attend

Approximately 1515 South State Rd 19, Mentone, IN 46539

Wabash County

10:45 a.m. ET – Walorski will tour Bulldog Battery

Media are welcome to attend

98 E Canal St, Wabash, IN 46992

Miami County

12:40 p.m. ET – Walorski will tour Savage Farms

Media are welcome to attend

1137 West Birmingham Road, Macy, IN 46951

Fulton County

1:55 p.m. ET – Walorski will tour Harsh Farms

Media are welcome to attend

1840 South 875 East, Akron, IN 46910

Walorski Stops at Savage Farms in Miami County

Walorski’s Get Regulation Out of the Way district-wide tour stops in Macy

Macy, Ind. – Rep. Jackie Walorski (IN-02) today stopped in Miami County as part of her district-wide ‘Get Regulation Out of the Way’ (GROW) tour. Over the course of two days, Walorski will visit with manufacturers, local businesses and farms to hear how federal regulations have affected their industry.

During her stop at Savage Farms, Walorski toured the farm to learn about various environmental issues including water run-off to various parts of the farms and how that is regulated by federal agencies.

Since 2012, 500 major federal regulations have been issued, costing farmers, business owners and manufacturers, almost $2 trillion in compliance. A ‘major’ regulation is anything expected to have a $100 million annual effect on the economy. According to the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, business owners have cited regulations as a top impediment to conducting business for over 65 months in a row.

“Agriculture is a significant driver of Indiana’s economy and in many rural counties, like Miami, agriculture is the primary economic activity,” Walorski said. “Unfortunately, burdensome regulations are going to take our farmers out of the fields and require them to spend precious time and resources complying with trivial rules. I’m committed to genuine regulatory reform and will continue to work with my House colleagues to ensure our economy is free to grow by ending job-killing regulations, delivering commonsense solutions to scale back the bureaucracy, and reducing the power and interference of federal bureaucrats.”

Founded in 1956, Savage Farms is a small dairy farm in Macy, Indiana.

Last month, Walorski supported legislation to prevent burdensome federal regulations from crushing manufacturers with unnecessary costs. H.R. 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which requires any rule or regulation with an economic impact of $100 million or more to come before Congress for a vote before taking effect.

Click here to view photos from Walorski’s GROW tour.

Walorski Stops at U.S. Aggregates, Inc. in Pulaski County

Walorski Get Regulation Out of the Way district-wide tour stops in Francesville

Francesville, Ind. – Rep. Jackie Walorski (IN-02) today stopped in Pulaski County as part of her district-wide ‘Get Regulation Out of the Way’ (GROW) tour. Over the next two days, Walorski will visit manufacturers, local businesses and farms to hear how federal regulations have affected their industry.

During her stop at U.S. Aggregates, Inc., Walorski toured the facility and met with employees to hear how federal regulations have impacted the hiring of employees, future growth, and productivity of the company.

Since 2012, 500 major federal regulations have been issued, costing taxpayers, including business owners, almost $2 trillion in compliance. A ‘major’ regulation is anything expected to have a $100 million annual effect on the economy. According to the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, business owners have cited regulations as a top impediment to conducting business for over 65 months in a row.

“Pulaski County businesses employ over 3,000 workers and federal regulations are forcing businesses like NISCO to spend time, money, and energy to ensure they’re in compliance. In fact, every dollar used to comply with the over 80,000 pages of regulations from the EPA is money they could have used to hire more workers,” Walorski said. “Instead, it’s wasted following the arbitrary rules put in place by unelected bureaucrats. I’m thankful for companies like Plastic Solutions, Inc. for continuing to employ Hoosiers and I’m committed to growing our economy by ending job-killing regulations that are crippling Indiana businesses.”

For over 50 years, U.S. Aggregates, Inc. has been providing high-quality products to the construction, asphalt, and ready-mix industries. Their success is attributed to their mission of providing quality, consistency, reliability, and value. In addition to providing exceptional products, the company also makes a great contribution to Indiana job creation, employing over 5,000 Hoosiers.

“The Indiana Manufacturers Association appreciates Congresswoman Walorski’s efforts to bring attention to the problem of burdensome federal regulations,” said IMA Communications Director Charlene Hickey. “Her support of legislation in the House, like the REINS Act, will hopefully slow the implementation of ill-conceived federal regulations that increase costs, reduce business investment, and prevent hiring.”

Click here to view photos from Walorski’s GROW tour.

Walorski Stops at Bulldog Battery in Wabash County

Walorski’s Get Regulation Out of the Way district-wide tour stops in Wabash

Wabash, Ind. – Rep. Jackie Walorski (IN-02) today stopped in Wabash County as part of her district-wide ‘Get Regulation Out of the Way’ (GROW) tour. Over the course of two days, Walorski will visit with manufacturers, local businesses and farms to hear how federal regulations have affected their industry.

During her stop at Bulldog Battery, Walorski toured the facility and met with employees to hear how federal regulations have impacted the hiring of employees, future growth, and productivity of the company.

“Wabash County businesses employ over 14,000 workers and federal regulations are forcing manufacturers to spend time, money, and energy to ensure they’re in compliance. In fact, every dollar used to comply with the over 80,000 pages of regulations from the EPA is money they could have used to hire more workers,” Walorski said. “Instead, it’s wasted following the arbitrary rules put in place by unelected bureaucrats. I’m thankful for companies like Bulldog Battery for continuing to employ Hoosiers and I’m committed to growing our economy by ending job-killing regulations that are crippling Indiana businesses.”

For over 30 years, Bulldog Battery has been manufacturing high-quality industrial batteries for use in electric fork lifts, order pickers, pallet jacks, etc. They attribute their growth to their production of a high-quality product, their low overhead expenses and their aggressive approach to the industrial battery market.

“The constant regulations are both unfair and inefficient,” said Bulldog Battery President Norman Benjamin. “Compliance with governmental rules is a costly and time-consuming burden and we appreciate Rep. Walorski taking time to hear from our employees how this affects our business and thank her for all that she does to fight on our behalf in Congress.”

“The Indiana Manufacturers Association appreciates Congresswoman Walorski’s efforts to bring attention to the problem of burdensome federal regulations,” said IMA Communications Director Charlene Hickey. “Her support of legislation in the House, like the REINS Act, will hopefully slow the implementation of ill-conceived federal regulations that increase costs, reduce business investment, and prevent hiring.”

Click here to view photos from Walorski’s GROW tour.

Walorski Stops at Plastic Solutions in St. Joseph County

Walorski Get Regulation Out of the Way district-wide tour stops in South Bend

South Bend, Ind. – Rep. Jackie Walorski (IN-02) today stopped in St. Joseph County as part of her district-wide ‘Get Regulation Out of the Way’ (GROW) tour. Over the next two days, Walorski will visit manufacturers, local businesses and farms to hear how federal regulations have affected their industry.

During her stop at Plastic Solutions, Inc., Walorski toured the facility and met with employees to hear how federal regulations have impacted the hiring of employees, future growth, and productivity of the company.

“St. Joseph County businesses employ over 100,000 workers and federal regulations are forcing businesses like Plastic Solutions, Inc. to spend time, money, and energy to ensure they’re in compliance. In fact, every dollar used to comply with the over 80,000 pages of regulations from the EPA is money they could have used to hire more workers,” Walorski said. “Instead, it’s wasted following the arbitrary rules put in place by unelected bureaucrats. I’m thankful for companies like Plastic Solutions, Inc. for continuing to employ Hoosiers and I’m committed to growing our economy by ending job-killing regulations that are crippling Indiana businesses.”

Since 1991, Plastic Solutions, Inc. has been making high-quality plastic parts, predominately serving the automotive industry but also makes parts for industrial and consumer use. The equipment in their 90,000 square-foot facility utilizes computer controlled processing to continually provide the highest quality of parts.

Click here to view photos from Walorski’s GROW tour.

Walorski Stops at Nishikawaka Standard Co LLC in Marshall County

Walorski Get Regulation Out of the Way district-wide tour stops in Bremen

Bremen, Ind. – Rep. Jackie Walorski (IN-02) today stopped in Marshall County as part of her district-wide ‘Get Regulation Out of the Way’ (GROW) tour. Over the next two days, Walorski will visit manufacturers, local businesses and farms to hear how federal regulations have affected their industry.

During her stop at Nishikawaka Standard Co LLC (NISCO), Walorski toured the facility and met with employees to hear how federal regulations have impacted the hiring of employees, future growth, and productivity of the company.

“Marshall County businesses employ over 16,000 workers and federal regulations are forcing businesses like NISCO to spend time, money, and energy to ensure they’re in compliance. In fact, every dollar used to comply with the over 80,000 pages of regulations from the EPA is money they could have used to hire more workers,” Walorski said. “Instead, it’s wasted following the arbitrary rules put in place by unelected bureaucrats. I’m thankful for companies like NISCO for continuing to employ Hoosiers and I’m committed to growing our economy by ending job-killing regulations that are crippling Indiana businesses.”

Cooper Standard is one of the top suppliers worldwide for systems and components for the automotive industry. Since the company’s start in 1960, Cooper standard has grown to employ over 27,000 people globally. They are currently ranked in the top 30 in sales and the top five in return on invested capital.

“I want to thank Rep. Walorski for visiting and fighting on our behalf in Congress to reduce the regulatory burden we face on a daily basis that hinders our ability to grow and hire more workers,” said Steve Folden, NISCO’s Bremen, and Fort Wayne, and Topeka’s general plant manager.

Click here to view photos from Walorski’s GROW tour.

ICYMI: Walorski Chairs Subcommittee Hearing on Utilization of Evidence-based Research in SNAP

Welcomes Notre Dame Professor as Witness

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Chairwoman Jackie Walorski (IN-02), convened a Subcommittee on Nutrition hearing to continue the full-scale review of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The subcommittee met to examine how the utilization of evidence-based research can allow limited program resources to be targeted toward the interventions with the greatest impact.

“With nearly 46 million Americans in the SNAP program, it is critical to explore how we can implement effective research that will improve the quality and quantity of data currently available. More and better data helps us as lawmakers evaluate what works and what doesn’t and target resources towards programs that can have the greatest impact on improving SNAP for both recipients and taxpayers.” Walorski said.

The subcommittee heard testimony from a panel of experts, who discussed the ways in which social science research methods and evidence-based solutions reduce costs and improve results. Expert witnesses included Jim Sullivan, an economics professor at the University of Notre Dame and co-founder of the Lab for Economic Opportunity.

Watch Walorski opening remarks here.

Earlier today, Walorski sat down with Professor Sullivan and introduced him to the Subcommittee, watch her introduction here and click here for a photo of the meeting.