Political Quotes

“I thank the Chair. Last night I laid down an amendment which I think enhances this farm bill and focuses on what is important for agriculture. We have had a lot of discussion about how we have to help farm families. Clearly, they are struggling. This country has been in a recession for about 15 months. We have been under attack by terrorists for about 3 months. But farmers across this country and their families and those with whom they work closely know they have been in recession for 4 or 5 years. The collapse of the overseas agricultural markets has driven prices down. That is why, among other things, it is vitally important that this body pass trade promotion legislation because we must get those markets back. In the meantime, we look for things we can do to assist farmers. We are going to send them financial assistance. In the last several years as they have suffered from low prices, we have provided very significant amounts of money to help fill in the void left by low market prices. We can do research for them. Research in new ways of doing business made our farmers continually more productive. We must be sure adequate transportation exists. In the heartland that means keeping the vital waterways of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers open to transportation so we can have economical and efficient ways of getting our farm products to market.”