Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I would like to use this time to engage in a colloquy with my friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart). Instead of moving forward with my amendment, as I had intended, that would enable our agriculture producers to sell products to Cuba on credit for the next fiscal year, we have agreed to work together and find a long-term solution that will work for our agriculture producers over time. Until today, there seemed to be no path forward for an agreement, but I have gotten commitments from the leadership and my friends from Florida that there will be a proper path forward. We have agreed to find a solution that does a number of things: Supports a long-term solution for our agriculture producers to sell commodities to Cuban buyers by eliminating restrictions in current law that weaken our producers' competitiveness; Lists a number of the impediments, a cash restriction being one of those, a cash requirement for purchases; Support for the thorough examination of the Cuban market potential for agriculture producers through a deliberative process across each relevant committee of jurisdiction; and Examines other long-term solutions that enable the United States to expand market access to the Cuban people. At a time when net farm income has dropped by more than 55 percent, it is critical that we work together to find ways to make this work on a long-term basis because there is no easy fix.…”