Liz Saville Roberts: “This legislation is a slightly modified version of a bill by the same name; that is, S. 1580 which was introduced by…”

“This legislation is a slightly modified version of a bill by the same name; that is, S. 1580 which was introduced by Senator Kerrey and myself last fall. It was supported by a large number of our colleagues. Our farmers and ranchers have to deal with multiple threats of weather and pests and disease that few, if any, businesses must experience on a daily basis. As we all know, it can often be a very brutal up-and-down cycle, a real price roller coaster that our farmers and ranchers must face. To get through these cycles, our producers must have crop insurance and risk management tools at work. This bill represents a real personal effort on my part and that of my staff, as well as Senator Kerrey and other colleagues. But it was about 20 years ago that my predecessor in the House of Representatives, the Honorable Keith Sebelius, cast the deciding vote to create the Federal Crop Insurance Program. Since that time, it has been almost 20 years now we have gone through numerous reforms to get this right.”