Robert Berry: “my amendment cuts $693,000 out of the salaries and expenses of the office of the Undersecretary for Natural Resources…”

“my amendment cuts $693,000 out of the salaries and expenses of the office of the Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment at the Department of Agriculture. It puts this money in the Resource Conservation and Development Account. My intent is to point out that farmers are tired of being abused by the bureaucracy. This money would be much better used to assist our producers in the field. Enough is enough. It is time to draw the line. Just yesterday, in the Committee on Agriculture, we had a hearing on EPA's proposed rules on total maximum daily load. This rule would devastate farmers by requiring permits for normal, everyday farming practices. Sadly enough, it was quite clear by the performance of the gentleman from EPA and USDA that their interest is in regulating, let us just regulate. EPA has overstepped its bounds with this rule and many other rules that they have proposed. We might as well not have an Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment. This money would be better spent, as I have said, in technical assistance for our farmers in the field. We can no longer stand by and allow more and more regulations to be placed on America's farmers that benefit no one or nothing.”