Jeff Flake: “Mr. Chairman, there are two bases on which to go for this amendment. One is the economic one, and one is the health one.…”

“Mr. Chairman, there are two bases on which to go for this amendment. One is the economic one, and one is the health one. You heard my colleague from Maryland give all the reasons on the health side, but if you look at the simple facts out of the Department of Agriculture, the price supports presently for the tobacco quota system gives the highest yield per acre, $3,855 per acre in the year 2002. Now, that compares to corn at $312 an acre, $215 for soybeans and $95 an acre for wheat. This is not an industry that is dying. If this money were going to the little farmers, that would be one thing. But if you look at the distribution, the way this money is going out, it goes to the big people, who also get a break in their taxes if they sell overseas. So what they are going to get out of this is cheaper production costs and cheaper taxes overseas. And what do the American people get? Nothing. We get no regulation from FDA, we get no protection for our children, and it costs us $9.6 billion. Vote for the amendment.”