Bipartisan legislation to support American farmers competing in global agricultural markets

U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senators Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Angus King (I-ME) and Susan Collins (R-NH) in co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to expand access to new markets for Illinois farmers who sell their goods in an increasingly competitive global economy. The Cultivating Revitalization by Expanding American Agricultural Trade and Exports (CREAATE) Act would provide long overdue funding increases to two U.S. Department of Agriculture export promotion programs that generate outstanding return on investment for taxpayers, the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development Program (FMDP). Between 1977 and 2014, these programs generated a net return of $28.30 for every dollar invested.