Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today to support H.R. 2 and the accompanying manager's amendment. I appreciate the chairman's leadership on this effort, not only in the underlying bill but the amendment to improve upon it. I thank the gentleman for including my food access liaison provision in the amendment. Just briefly: This individual will be tasked with coordinating USDA programs aimed at improving Americans' access to quality food and providing technical assistance to community leaders who are working to improve the lives of those living in food deserts. This is a small measure of progress that we can all be proud of and continue our work to ensure folks have access to healthy and nutritious foods. However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that access to healthy and nutritious food relies on the food security system, the strong food security system provided by this farm bill. And I thank the chairman for his leadership in that regard. As we will soon vote on amendments, I urge my colleagues to remember the importance of a strong food security system for all of our commodities, whether that be under the ARC program or the PLC program for crops such as rice, soybeans, and corn or the current sugar program. If we pick apart our commodity programs one by one, we will create giant holes in our Nation's food security system.…”