Bill Bennett: “I listened to my friend from Idaho with great interest and great sympathy, and if, indeed, we could get all the other…”

“I listened to my friend from Idaho with great interest and great sympathy, and if, indeed, we could get all the other dairy producers to follow Idaho's example and put an assessment on themselves in order to come up with this money, I would agree with him this amendment is not necessary. Unfortunately, I believe there is an urgency here. The research needs to be done as quickly as possible, and this seems to be the logical place to which we should go. I will say to the Senator from Idaho and to my other colleagues the fundamental problem here is not the research. The fundamental problem in my view is the absurdity of the EPA position with respect to the underlying question. That, as I said earlier, is not a matter for the appropriations subcommittee to deal with. It is a matter for the authorizing committee. But I will pledge to my friend from Idaho that to the degree we can have some influence on the EPA's position in conference, I will do everything I can to try to get a little common sense into this regulatory pattern. With that, Madam President, I call for a voice vote on the amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate on the amendment? If not, the question is on agreeing to the amendment. The amendment (No. 1783) was agreed to.”