c-span. last friday, the u.s. house considered a coronavirus epic make leaf package -- epidemic relief package. approved unanimously after four hours of debate. the coronavirus kept several members from the house floor in home districts. 150 of the current representatives took part in the debate. in light of these circumstances, c-span offered any lawmaker who was not able to speak on the house floor a chance to provide us with a video statement on their views of this legislation. 33 democrats recorded videos which will air tonight starting at 9:00 eastern on c-span. as of now, no republican members have submitted videos. host: the focus on coronavirus and u.s. agriculture with philip brasher. for people who are right now seeing nothing but sold-out grocery store aisles, what is going on in the agriculture industry when it comes to the

impact of coronavirus? what are people seeing behind those aisles? guest: that is the question of the day. a lot is going on. i cannot tell you what an incredible disruption the last couple of weeks have been. primarily, you have a lot of people hoarding and buying lots of food. a lot of other things. the supply chain is not set up for a surge like that so it takes a little while to get caught up. we have lots of hens and cattle and pigs in this country, but they are set to move through the system at a certain pace. the other really big thing that's happening is you have a massive shift from restaurants, food service, universities, schools to retail. in some cases that's different

products, different types of products, different types of produce, but all of that has to be shifted to retail. unfortunately some of this may go to waste, particularly in the case of fresh produce. it has to be eaten fairly quickly. has created all sorts of logistical challenges and otherwise, this whole shift and the rush to supermarkets. there is plenty of food to go around. new yorked in today's times asked the question will , the coronavirus threaten our food? if it does, where would the strain happen first? what should we be watching for to keep that from happening? >> companies all along the food chain have been working on this furiously for the last couple of weeks, working with government agencies including agriculture department, the food and drug

administration and the epa. transportation departments, just agencies, there is lot going on behind the scenes. but to your question, they're all sorts of different points, you have to make sure you have an adequate number of truck drivers, make sure you have the workforce, the workers staying healthy. one of the big concerns in the meat industry is the federal inspection force because you cannot -- packing plants cannot operate and slaughter animals them through the system unless there federal inspectors on site. a big concern early on and a continuing concern is those inspectors say healthy -- stay healthy and there is back up someone gets sick. usda which is responsible for eat, has beenm

working on that. we will see how well they've done. there are a number of places along the food chain where you have disruptions. it could have an impact primarily on prices initially. >> philip brasher is our guest. if you want to check them out agri-pulse.com. you can call in on this segment as we talk about u.s. agriculture and food supply chain in the phone line split up by region. in the eastern and central .nited states, (202) 748-8000 a special line for those who work in the agriculture industry, (202) 748-8002. philip brasher, as folks are calling in with those concerns supplyhere the food chain might break down or the strains, we want to talk about -- $2o trillion dollar

trillion stimulus package and if that will help prevent a breakdown. in thatey was included package, $14 billion to replenish the commodity credit corporation. another $100 million for reconnect grants to expand access to broadband in rural america. start is with the biggest number, $14 billion. what is the commodity credit corporation? >> it is at the usda. they are able to use that to have the commodity programs, the commodity payments in congress replenishes it. they've also used it for the last couple of years to make trade assistance payments. the last one was about $14.5 billion. these are the payments to compensate farmers for the

impact of the terror of war -- tariff war primarily with china. congress has provided another $14 billion for that account . presumably usda will be doing another round of those direct payments to farmers but they should have somewhere close to enough money for that. the other big one you mentioned is the $9.5 billion set aside specifically for livestock producers, what's called specialty crops, that is fruits, vegetables, the produce industry, which has been hit very hard by this disruption that i mentioned. shippersgrowers and are stuck with produce they cannot sell. and then also local systems, farmers markets, farmers who sell into those markets and csa's and so forth.

in an age of coronavirus. the special phone line for those who work in the agricultural industry, 202-748-8002. other line split up regionally as we have done in recent days and weeks here. a topic that came up in our last segment this morning was immigration and the concern about there being another -- enough immigrant workers to secure the food supply. can you talk about that concern on that front? >> another issue that cropped up quickly and that's because this is the time of year when the state department and the labor department are working to approve applications for foreign workers to command to work in

agriculture instead of a spec -- that's a's special visa program. these workers often require interviews of consulates and embassies primarily in mexico but in a few other countries including south africa, central america, guatemala. is that theens state department essentially is starting to shut down practical purposes these embassies and consuls in mexico. great concern among agriculture groups about their ability to get these workers into the thetry in time for springfield to work with planning. very important for vegetables. but other sectors as well. scrambling to do something about that. last week the state department came out and said they would waive these interviews for a large percentage of these

a greatts and so that's part of the way towards dealing with that issue, still concern the process goes forward for some lingering concerns about farmers coming from south africa and some other countries. >> some reaction to that state department decision last week you were referring to with the american farm bureau, a statement from their president from last week, we applaud the administration for recognizing contributions of those workers that they make two farms across this country to ensure americans have access to healthy affordable food acknowledging the critical role of immigrant farm laborers by expanding the number of eligible while ensuring families continue to have access to stable food sources. workers in the program represent 20% of the workforce so the

contributions are necessary as winter a critical time in the planting season. our guest, phil brasher, phone lines up for you. lynn is up first of hawthorne, go ahead. i'm a senior and i can transportation is dependent upon my mother. and we only get out for necessary things like food and other things, i live in putnam county, florida and there's a paper factory at georgia-pacific in our county i can't understand the 17 different stores in one week and have not been able to find toilet paper and also rubbing alcohol. i understand hospitals probably need those but i'm a diabetic

and i need rubbing alcohol. wondered why they weren't supplying the stores. host: philip brasher on supply chain issues. guest: it's important for people to hear because when you buy more than you need, you make it difficult for people who either can't afford to buy a large supply or are having trouble getting to the stores and that's a lot of folks these days. it is difficult for the supply chain to deal with this, this is a real issue that consumers need to think about. need.t you the stores will still be open, their essential infrastructure that are exempt from all the stay-at-home order's when you buy more than you need, you make it tougher for someone who is not in a position to go shopping and buy large quantities.

host: the economist who wrote asking questions with the will threaten our food, he notes domestic production is not the only problem. united states relies on foreign supplies from us 20% of its food. in thomas 25% american cheese comes from italy, those imports are at risk, number -- another threat is those nations and others will take steps to protect their own food supplies, a major exporter of flour. the suspended exports of those products. our foodspending supply in united states to countries abroad? and that are not something the united states government has been opposed to. you create all sorts of problems when you do that. with other countries

not to do the same things. havet happens when you large spikes in prices. you see these sort of bands cropping up, i think one of the issues we are watching for is to the extent to which we have disruptions, we certainly have that in china early on with covid-19's first was raging over difficultmade it very to move product into and within china, we have not seen that here but things aren't slowing down, the good thing is for the united states is for the most part we produce way more than we can use. much of our agricultural relies heavily on exports because we produce with such prodigious production. host: a comment from tammy in

new mexico the our text message service. food pantries are desperate, why don't they donate the produce, the producers were talking about especially time sensitive ones. guest: they are trying to do that. it's a challenge, one of the things they are asking the usda to do is to the federal for reading programs, there is definitely an effort to do that. , they are working for just that very thing. challenge andical it takes time. host: if there ever was a better time to do with spring around the corner, at least you might have something to eat. i planted my potatoes yesterday. this is out of lexington, south carolina, good morning. you are on board -- on. caller: thank you for taking my

call. i was amazed by how quickly things can dry up in the markets and it seems to be the mainstream media is hell-bent on creating a panic and making people rush the store. i want to help the food supply. panic.le really now where we point could lose everything. much,ple panicked too they would have to go out and get other people's food, you have to suspend the constitution and create martial law. estimates on food supplies drying up? guest: again, we have plenty of food. what happens is you create these backlogs in the food supply.

the other thing that happens is you create volatility in prices and have the shortages. that's really been happening in the meat sector of the last couple of weeks. that's because we have this tremendous surge in panic buying really a couple weeks ago now, people emptied the shelves. we have plenty of production, it just takes several days to catch up. to herres that we go pretty well-stocked now. -- the most part and adjust it creates disruptions to catch up. volatility and a lot of volatility in prices. washington state, brian works in the agriculture sector.

caller: i work in farm processing. processing the facility. farm raised the product. what is your question or comment today? caller: bottom line is the first one that concerns me is across united states here on the first of november from the west coast to east coast and back and when i broke the middle of the country and got towards the east coast i was appalled at how many flooded crop fields i was seeing. i was seeing beat feels that had circle for but -- circle pivots

with four feet of standing water on irrigated fields. that has to be a major issue there for inventory. but aside from that my buddy's work in the produce warehouses, one sells and one buys in one -- and one hauls. i asked how business is going and they were saying they were concerned about the loss of their sales to the school food program inventory that those were being eased by the irregular retail consumption due to customer over stocking or extra purchasing or hoarding. and it was like a 30% number there that those school programs were responsible for their warehouse inventory but they were being made up for just by the retail customer extra buying or hoarding.

guest: we had an incredible amount of flooding in the middle class. there was a believe in roughly speaking the didn't get planted, primarily there some other crops. we still have plenty of supplies. wellnot forecasted as below the ground is so saturated. but we are on track to have what looks like a good planning season. as far as those disruptions, that is what's happened. the closing of schools is a big issue because the food was going to schools needs to go somewhere else. take those half-point cartons of milk. you don't buy those of the grocery store. where do they go.

it creates other issues. products that are sold in the schools are not necessarily with , as which bind the retail very easy transition there. the the think schools are doing for low income students is making grab and go meals. , those are schools different than what they would be selling preparing in the school cafeteria. there are changes you have to work through. talking about possible waste. this is rick from our text messaging service saying i work at a large farm greenhouse establishment in southern virginia. spring and fall i work three to four days a week. i'm afraid on two fronts. that we may not be allowed to supply that we depend on in the second, the waste involved that we might face with a surplus of

produce that we cannot move. this is out of georgetown, texas. good morning. i'm 81 years old, from california. my husband worked for pan american airlines as supervisor. time preparing frozen meals for the passengers and then they took over. i understand summer assistance, getting food to people. but what concerns me is when i see these arenas that are being converted for what looks like 1000 beds. i'm thinking the logistics of how you deal with this many people under one roof. challenges isajor getting food to them.

my mind thinks of the -- someone is going to have to do the work to fix on this. because it will break down i think. host: as you are talking about that you also talk about efforts to increase the supplemental nutrition assistance program because it plays in to this issue here. >> all these little things that you don't really think about, a lot of people do after think about them. intendede of that food can address -- can be used for the issue that she brings up. in terms of foodstamp programs. ,utrition assistance programs the -- this to trillion dollar stimulus bill the president past and the president signed on another $15.5d

billion for the additional demand that's expected for snap benefits. millions at work. we are going to have another , high priority for democrats and house speaker nancy pelosi is to have a temporary increase in snap benefits. in the amount that a person or family can get. temporarilywas thatg that great recession benefit eventually snapped back to the normal standard level. it's been there. democrats are pushing to get an increase of about 15%. host: good morning.

caller: yes. store, i a grocery stock right now. concerned because we have a few people international chain and locally who have been tested whative for the virus and is the problem, my concern is pushing the virus around through the system and handling that ,tuff and getting it to people that really concerns me because i understand that can happen and this is kind of new for us. being -- happy trump supporter day. that's all. host: on the first part of the comment. guest: that is an issue, the workers i mentioned that this is concerned having workers have to

quarantine, having to plant anywhere along the chain you create disruption worse comes to worse you have to shut down because of an outbreak, it hasn't happened that i'm aware of. of food getting you cant i'm seeing is leave the virus on service -- surfaces. that's good reason to keep washing your hands. a lot of recommendations when you bring stuff to make sure you clean it off. a virus is on the surface. host: last call from march in michigan. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. just a question regarding the foreign and visa worker program.

why couldn't we get the education department and make some kind of program for the college students that are not attending school at the moment and work out a deal where the students could go ahead and work in agriculture and help repay their debts. thank you. guest: interesting suggestion. supposedly these college students are taking online courses. once that i know are, the ones the teachers and professors i know are teaching these courses. but on the bigger issue of getting people to work in agriculture, it is extremely difficult to talk to anybody, often they will work for a short amount of time and then take off and that's an other sectors as well. particularly in agriculture, it is extremely difficult, i come

from texas and it's extremely , it's hard work, it's to work in the fields in the summer. brasher, on twitter you can find them at agri pulse as wel >> in just a few minutes, governor cuomo brief his response on the coronavirus. we will have that live on c-span . until then, back to this morning's washington journal. m from new york is daniel oberhaus, who covers energy issues and the future of energy for wired magazine.