Political Quotes

“After three debates in support of my colleague from New York, I find myself on the opposite side of this issue. We are in the process of developing a very viable American olive oil industry, one that has great potential. At the same time, that industry faces a question from the consumers about the quality of the oil that is available, both domestically produced, as well as internationally produced. There have been numerous studies done that indicate that there is a lot of misrepresentation as to the quality and the nature of olive oil. This bill, the FARRM Bill, simply establishes the opportunity for the creation of a marketing order that would eventually provide a farmer- oriented regulation of the quality and the type of olive oil that's going to be on the market. That would apply both to imported, as well as domestically produced, olive oil. The cost of this need not be as high as my colleague from New York suggests. It is probable, and most feasible, that the olive oil that's imported would be checked as to its quality and consistency at the point of export, certainly not at the retail and probably not at the point of import. This can be done. This is done in many, many products that are produced in America, as well as imported--quality controls, consumer awareness. This is a very important bill for the domestic nascent olive oil industry.”