Congressman Mike Thompson has opened the door for domestic cut flower suppliers — such as Arcata's Sun Valley Floral Farms — to potentially compete with foreign flower growers.
According to his office, Thompson offered an amendment Thursday to the Colombia Free Trade Agreement implementing bill that would provide funding for a national floral transportation and distribution center for U.S. cut flower shipments. Thompson eventually withdrew the amendment, but the action allowed cut flower growers to address the committee on their concerns.
Thompson, D-St. Helena, said Friday that he wanted to bring awareness to the issue before the House Ways and Means Committee.
”I wanted to talk about it, and I wanted people to understand what a significant issue it is. I wanted the Obama administration to understand and to agree that it was an issue,” Thompson said. “They acknowledged it, and they agreed it was a problem, and they offered to work with me in their support of addressing the problem.”
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