To welcome new members of the 115^th Congress, IDFA invited several representatives to its office in Washington, D.C., over the past few weeks for introductory meetings. Reps. John Faso (R-NY), Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and James Comer (R-KY) have all visited with IDFA legislative staff and invited industry partners and enjoyed dairy products made by IDFA member companies.

“These introductory meetings at our office allow us to get to know the new representatives, discuss our priorities with them and feature some delicious dairy products,” said Dave Carlin, IDFA senior vice president for legislative affairs and economic policy. “We have had some excellent discussions and are looking forward to working with each of these members in this new Congress.”

Today, IDFA staff and other food industry representatives welcomed Congressman Faso, who represents New York’s 19^th Congressional district, which includes the facilities of several IDFA member companies. Congressman Faso is a member of the House Agriculture, Budget, and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees. 

Earlier this week, IDFA and the National Milk Producers Federation co-hosted a meet-and-greet with Congressman Gallagher, who represents Wisconsin’s 8^th Congressional district and the largest concentration of IDFA members in the country. Congressman Gallagher is the first member of this year’s freshman class of lawmakers to join the Congressional Dairy Farmer Caucus, and he is a member of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees.

Congressman Comer, who represents Kentucky’s 1st Congressional district, visited IDFA last month for a meet-and-greet. He is a member of the House Agriculture, and Oversight and Government Reform Committees, and his district includes several facilities of IDFA member companies.

Attendees at each of these events included representatives from IDFA member companies and agricultural producer organizations. The discussions focused on key issues for the food and beverage industry in the 115^th Congress. 

Visit IDFA on Facebook to see photos from the visits.

For more information, contact Ashley Burch, IDFA director of political programs, at aburch@idfa.org.