Political Quotes

“Like many of my colleagues, I represent a largely rural district. Agriculture is the number one industry in the First District of Arkansas. Farmers there--and across the country, I might add--are facing tough economic challenges like many other businesses today. Regardless of the production they are engaged in--poultry, cattle, cotton, rice, soybeans, whatever--the chief complaint of farmers in my district is the continued pressure placed on them by the onerous regulatory burdens of the Environmental Protection Agency. Now under the auspices of ``clean air,'' the EPA wants to regulate dust. American farmers produce the safest, cheapest, and most abundant food supply on the planet. There are over 300 million mouths to feed in our country, and less than a million farmers engaged in the process of meeting that demand. Not to mention, global demand is growing exponentially where by the year 2050 there will be a total population of over 9 billion people. Folks, for centuries, America has led the way in agricultural production, and we will continue to be the leading producers of commodities so long as farmers aren't being stifled by crippling regulations and EPA overreach. Government should be aiding our efforts to lead the way in agricultural production, not hindering them. The regulatory regime must come to realize that our food is grown in the dirt and that, in the process of the production of that food, farmers are going to stir up a little dust.”