Congressman Bishop visits Thomasville Stockyard

Oct. 23—On Monday, Congressman Sanford Bishop held a farm tour with stops throughout Southwest Georgia, which included a visit to the local cattle industry at Thomasville Stockyard.

During his visit, Bishop said that his experience with Thomasville was one that had taught him a lot about representing the needs and wants of local farmers.

"I'm just getting Thomas County back, but I represented Thomas County for a long, long time," he said. "The experience I've been able to get representing agriculture has really served me well and I got it from many of you."

He spoke on his success as a representative, noting that he had attained leadership in various positions that gave him significant influence in budgetary matters in regards to agriculture.

"Fortunately, a couple of cycles ago, I was able to get to the top and I am now chair of the Agriculture, Rural Development, and Federal Drug Administration Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee," Bishop said. "So I'm responsible for writing the budget for USDA, which includes all the farm service agencies, NRCS, rural development agencies and the nutrition programs, among others."

Additionally, Bishop spoke about many of his aims, aiding local farmers to be successful, improving quality of life for rural communities, furthering independence from China by producing computer chips on American soil, and creating incentives that will encourage local processing of meat.

And while they have challenges ahead of them, Bishop said, America has come far from where it was just a few short years ago.

"We've got a lot of challenges facing us, but you got to think about where we were two and a half years ago," he said. "Everything was shut down, kids couldn't go to school, economy was shut down, we couldn't get the boats unloaded that had fertilizer in them, we had all kinds of problems. And people dying, hundreds of thousands of people were dying from COVID. But in just two and a half years, we've turned that around, the economy is finally coming back, although we got problems with inflation."

Speaking on the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections and his service, Bishop said that he appreciated the opportunities allowed to him and hopes to continue using his long experience to serve the people of Georgia.

"I appreciate the opportunity that you have given me to serve you. I believe that I have given good account for my stewardship, but the job don't belong to me, though. It belongs to you," he said. "And you have to hire somebody to do the job every two years. I'm asking you again to extend my contract for two more years."

were