Political Quotes

“the fiscal year 1998 agriculture spending bill that comes before us today totals $3.2 billion less than was spent on agriculture-related programs last year, and $12.6 billion less than was spent the prior year. That is an actual reduction in spending, from $63.3 billion in fiscal year 1996 to $50.7 billion this year--an astounding 20 percent cut. Mr. President, the savings are due in large part to the more market-oriented farm policies that Congress approved in 1996--policies that I supported. The Freedom to Farm Act did away with the decades-old policy of providing subsidies to farmers when market prices dropped. It did away with the policy of requiring farmers to plant the same crops every year and instead established a system of fixed, declining payments on the way to a farm policy free of Government intervention. The substantial savings in farm programs will allow us to target more funding to high-priority domestic programs, like the Women, Infants, and Children [WIC] nutrition program and the Food and Drug Administration's food safety initiative. WIC alone would receive an additional $121 million in the upcoming fiscal year. And without price supports and other subsidies to artificially boost the cost of food, every family's food budget will eventually go farther. WIC recipients will get more for their food dollar. Taxpayers will save. Every family will save.…”