Liz Saville Roberts: “Well, as I said before, some of our critics--and we should have critics. We should have oversight. We are not doing…”

“Well, as I said before, some of our critics--and we should have critics. We should have oversight. We are not doing everything right, that is for sure. And farm bills--I tell you, we passed the Rubicon. This is no longer a farm bill. This is a bill that should be titled--I don't know what to put first--but conservation, nutrition, food stamps, rural development. We have a brand new section for specialty crops, which is a good thing in that for too long they have been out of the farm program. I must admit I never had a specialty crop producer come in my office and want to be part of the farm program because, inevitably, you have to put up a lot of rules and regulations, although I understand this one is done by State grant. I do not know whether we are going to have a hodgepodge of different programs for specialty crops. But specialty crops are a very important item. So is that a small farmer. Do not misunderstand me. Small farmers have a niche market. Small farmers are into organic produce. Small farmers take their produce to a place such as Alexandria, which my wife tries to get me up in the morning to go and visit and at least purchase some fresh fruits or vegetables. That is a good thing. But we cannot rely on just those folks or small farmers as opposed to the 15 percent of producers. Of course, the criticism is, they get most of the payments, but they produce most of the food and fiber--85 percent. If you add that up, as I have indicated, that is 20 percent of our GDP.…”