Political Quotes

“I wish to speak about amendment No. 855, which I filed with Senators Coburn, Gillibrand, Lautenberg, and Brown. This amendment would require the Secretary of Agriculture to enforce adjusted gross income limits on farm subsidies that were established in the last farm bill by: Pursuing thousands of individuals flagged by the IRS as potentially illegal recipients of farm subsidies; reclaiming subsidies from millionaires and other illegal recipients; and auditing subsidy recipients who claim they are in compliance with income limits but whose IRS tax returns suggest otherwise. I do not intend to ask for a vote on this amendment at this time, but I would like to explain to my colleagues why I am calling upon the USDA to more vigorously enforce the adjusted gross income limits in law. In the 2008 farm bill, Congress capped the income of farm bill subsidy payment recipients at $500,000 for non-farm income and $750,000 for farm income. The limits were imposed because there had been increasing concerns that direct payments, countercyclical payments, and marketing loan benefits had been going to corporate agriculture and millionaires. These subsidy programs are designed to provide a safety net to farmers whose industry suffers from dramatic swings in prices from year to year. Congress intended to prevent individuals who could provide their own safety net from drawing funds they didn't need from taxpayers.…”