. >> thank you, madame jo. >> thank you very much. senator, welcome. >> thank you, madam chair. i am pleased to join this honorable committee today. the last time a massachusetts senator sat on the committee was in 1879. i am only a third senator to serve on this committee. so if you are wondering why i'm here, i want to tell you that we in massachusetts are not unfamiliar with our culture issues and the importance of our culture to this nation and the commonwealth. personally i have spent most of my childhood in north carolina on my great grandparents working on. everything that we ate was almost always grow more born on a farm. although massachusetts is not a corn or wheat belt state, it is an important producer for the nation. crops and jerry are the -- crops and dairy producing are very important to farmers, both experienced and new. the farmers and fishermen have a production of $7.2 billion in annual sales. i recognize some aspect of our fisheries are not in the jurisdiction of this committee. the fishermen who risk their lives to put food on the tables must be treated wit