Last month, we had the opportunity to travel to our nation’s capitol twice to promote industrial hemp on behalf of Kentucky Congressmen championing the new federal legislation. Representative James Comer (R-KY), former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner, is finishing his revised version of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act to introduce this session, and the prospect of a fully legalized commercial U.S. hemp industry is looking better than ever!
The Industrial Hemp Farming Act (2015) was originally sponsored by Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY), who is working alongside Comer to finalize an improved version of the bill. If passed, it would remove industrial hemp from the Controlled Substances list, and allow states to determine whether or not to allow hemp production.
We had the pleasure of meeting with both Congressman Comer (top photo) and Congressman Massie (pictured above) during our travels to discuss the legislation and the future of the Kentucky, and nation-wide industry. It was encouraging to see how supportive they were of our grassroots efforts to grow and engage others with the Kentucky hemp industry!
Congressmen Comer, Massie, along with Senator Wyden (D-OR) lead bill sponsor in the Senate, and Representative Jared Polis (D-CO), all spoke at the Hemp On The Hill event promoting industrial hemp held at the Rayburn Capitol Building on February 28th. We were glad to attend, and appreciated the recognition we were given by Congressman Comer during his address. We’re honored to be considered, “the face of Kentucky hemp!”
We’ve also had the opportunity to meet hemp champion Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)(pictured below), and the staffs of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Representative John Yarmuth (D-KY), and Representative Andy Barr (R-KY), who are all strong supporters of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act!
We hope that representatives from others states will become just as outspoken about industrial hemp as our have over the past several years. Once the new legislation is introduced, we look forward to traveling back to D.C. to encourage new co-sponsor support, and educate policy makers about hemp and our work here in Kentucky! We look forward to sharing updates as the legislation progresses!