Political Quotes

“I thank very much the distinguished chairwoman for yielding. We are talking about amendment No. 791, the pending amendment offered by my friend and colleague from Oklahoma, Senator Coburn. I must oppose the Coburn amendment which will severely diminish the farm safety net for America's farmers and ranchers. I know that is not the intent of his amendment as he sees it but, unfortunately, that would be the practical effect, as the chairwoman has indicated. The setting of adjusted gross income caps or what we call AGI caps is a policy issue that should be handled by the authorizing committee, not during the appropriations process. More specifically, this issue is a farm bill issue, if you will, and it is currently being considered in the context of the Joint Debt Committee process--the supercommittee. The chairwoman has described in detail our efforts, both the House principals and the chairwoman and myself, in submitting to the Joint Debt Committee our suggestions on how we can meet our deficit reduction responsibilities. As people consider this amendment, I think it is important to remember that the 2008 farm bill, as the chairwoman has indicated, included the most comprehensive and far-reaching reform to farm program eligibility requirements in 20 years. That included reform to the AGI caps to which the Coburn amendment refers. It is also important for my colleagues to understand that the adjusted gross income for a farmer is not pure profit.…”