Gary Condit: “I rise today in qualified support of the conference report to H.R. 2646, The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act.…”

“I rise today in qualified support of the conference report to H.R. 2646, The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act. While California is the top agricultural state economy in the United States, the bulk of this legislation's spending--$47.8 out of $73.5 billion--benefits only 9 percent of California's agriculture value. Again, it will be those midwest states that only produce 20 percent of the total value of U.S. agriculture that benefit most from federal farm legislation. The National Dairy Program is another unfortunate aspect of the bill which threatens California's thriving dairy economy. While our dairy herds continue to increase in size, production and efficiency, we will be drawn into a national program designed to address region-specific problems in other parts of the country, specifically the Northeast. There is simply no reason to meddle in a healthy national market to the benefit of only a few. $2 billion, which would have been better spent on research or nutrition, will be distributed to regions that contribute the least to our national economy. It was with great diligence and constant effort that gains were accomplished for the State of California. Specialty crop producers received more assistance in this bill than any other farm legislation passed by Congress to date. Specialty crops have been especially successful at accessing foreign markets.”