Jim Costa

It has been one week since bipartisan discussions over the $4 trillion ``grand deal'' broke down yet we have seen little progress toward a smaller package of spending cuts that would allow us to raise the debt limit and begin getting our…

I think it is appropriate that the two committees do spend some time, especially in light of the fact that I think we are going to utilize more and more natural gas as a cleaner source of energy.

I think as a policy we are going to have to continue slant drilling and fracturization if we are going to take advantage of these energy sources.

I know personally of the research that takes place there, and I think it is effective.

I was detailed to Senator Harkin in the 2008 Farm Bill process. This was brought forward on the Senate side by Senators Boxer and Feinstein.

There is not one area in the United States of America where farmers are more regulated than they are in the Central Valley.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

I have been critical. In previous Administrations they have designated a person within the White House to handle rural areas.

With tight budgets, it is incumbent upon our agencies to reduce costs and provide the maximum impact possible with the funds provided.

I'd also like to get one thing straight right off the bat: there aren't enormous savings to be found from cutting farm programs.

I share my colleague, Congressman McGovern's concern because as I said, anecdotally, I think all of us have traveled abroad and seen the impact and the benefits of these programs.

Just to say thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for your due diligence, and we will continue to work together as we try to fashion the most responsible 2012 Farm Bill we can put together working with all these agencies, including those we heard…

We're not asking for a handout; we just need a floor in place for when the bottom drops out.

Obviously, the MILC, then, therefore, isn't a very effective safety net in that instance, if that is the purpose and part for what it is done.

Ma'am, I think the work product is going to be better if it is from the bottom up as opposed to the top down.

And I would like you to provide some information to the chair and myself and other Members of the Subcommittee on how that is going to take place, okay?

I want to understand APHIS's role.

I couldn't agree with you more. Ms. Canales, your response was nice but it was filled with a lot of 'bureaucratic-ese;' and it is not to be necessarily a reflection on you or the United States Department of Agriculture.

I hope that we will all try to work together on behalf of dairy producers in America to avoid a crash.

I scoffed at it. I mocked it. I laughed at it. I thought this was the goofiest thing I have ever heard of. And then I saw how it was working and I was wrong.

While you are correct to say in the last 6 months the prices have gotten better within the dairy industry, we are rebounding from perhaps the most difficult period the industry has been in in decades.

But we don't believe that we should take a disproportional hit.

There aren't enormous savings to be found from cutting farm programs. They comprise less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the Federal budget.

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman.

But we have tight budgets and I think you are going to have to think out of the box.