Political Quotes

“Thank you, Chairman Rogers, for giving me the opportunity to speak in support of H.J. Res. 59, which is the FY14 continuing resolution. Of course I think it's very obvious by the comments that the Republicans have made on our side this morning that we do need to keep the government open at its current sequestered funding level and continue to provide the vital services that our constituents have grown to expect from government, and certainly make sure that we don't have a government shutdown. As Chairman Rogers had mentioned, I chair the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture. Some may ask, why is it so important that we keep the government open? Can't we just go with another year-long CR? I'd like to provide some reasons why the FY14 Ag Approps bill that passed the committee provides great benefits to the taxpayer and why we don't need to go to a year-long CR, and certainly why we don't need to do a government shutdown. In the Ag Appropriations bill, we direct the States to be in full compliance with WIC and SNAP eligibility standards, and we increase oversight of vendors to rein in the costs. We require the USDA to report on strategies that are being implemented to help weed out fraud, waste, and abuse in the SNAP program. One thing that I hear a lot about is the new school meal regulation. We want to provide more flexibility for local school districts as they implement these new school regulations for meals for the students.…”