Political Quotes

“I rise today to talk about another example of an EPA that, I believe, is out of step with American agriculture. EPA continues to pursue regulations that would require farmers to file for an additional permit if they want to apply pesticides, while just last month EPA Administrator Jackson mentioned ``the critical work that farmers are doing to protect our soil, air, and water resources.'' Yet the EPA continues, I believe, to handcuff our farmers and our ranchers with very stringent new regulations but still expects them to do all they can to feed a hungry world. Time and time again, farmers have consistently proven to be excellent stewards of the environment. They make their living from the land, and they are very mindful of maintaining and protecting and improving it. I speak from experience. I grew up on a farm. Unfortunately, we have watched organizations use the courts to twist laws against American agricultural production. A Democratic Congressman from California recently noted that EPA ``often pursues a course of agency activism.'' He points out that EPA is using the settlement of lawsuits to give them jurisdiction over issues that may not be allowed under existing law. More and more we are seeing important policy decisions that impact agriculture arise not from the legislative process, where it should arise from, but from the litigation process where a lawsuit settlement results in policy decisions being made.…”