Political Quotes

Jeff Flake: “I hope that nobody in this Chamber or watching here misses the irony of this, that we are spending money to subsidize…”

On the recordFebruary 18, 2011
I hope that nobody in this Chamber or watching here misses the irony of this, that we are spending money to subsidize Brazilian agriculture so that we can continue to subsidize agriculture here. That is just incredible when you think about it. And what this amendment will do is to force us back to the table. It won't spark a trade war. It will simply say, all right, stop subsidizing your own agriculture in a way that violates your trade agreements. That's what we want to do is force the issue where we can actually get out of these subsidy programs. We cannot continue to send money to Brazil so that we can continue to subsidize agriculture here. It just makes no sense at all. This is a great amendment. I hope that my colleagues will support it.
Said by
Jeff Flake
Republican · Arizona
Source
govinfo.gov
Feb 18, 2011

Editor's note · Context

The speaker addresses the irony of U.S. agricultural subsidies benefiting Brazil and advocates for an amendment to change this.

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