Sam Farr: “I say to the Members, hey, wake up and smell the coffee. What do Members think this program is all about? Members sit…”

“I say to the Members, hey, wake up and smell the coffee. What do Members think this program is all about? Members sit there and watch television, where Juan Valdez is wandering around the supermarket selling Colombian coffee, where the Greeks are selling olive oil, where the French are selling wine. Where do Members think those countries are paying for those products to get into our markets? How are we going to do world trade unless we can reach out and sell our products? Agriculture has the best balance of trade, $30 billion in surplus. Support this program. Members are foolish to cut us off and shoot us in the feet and not allow American products to be sold abroad. Smell the coffee. Defeat this amendment. Mr. Chairman, the Market Access Program [MAP] is critical to the future health of our Nation's agriculture. If we cut MAP, we will pull the rug out from underneath American farmers. First, the Market Access Program benefits American agriculture. Every dollar spent by M.A.P. provides several dollars in export sales. For fruits and vegetables alone, each dollar of MAP creates $5 dollars in export sales. MAP benefits all American agriculture: grains, livestock, fruits and vegetables, cotton--all benefit from MAP. Thanks in part to MAP, U.S. agriculture exports are the single largest positive contributor to the U.S. trade balance. Despite years of trade deficits, agricultural trade continues to run a surplus--$27 billion this year alone.…”