Sam Farr: “Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I call you Chair because you were chair when I was on the committee, and I always…”

“Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I call you Chair because you were chair when I was on the committee, and I always respect your leadership in this field. As was stated, I am ranking member of the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee, and that is responsible for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. The entire budgets of those administrations are bigger than the budget of all of California. It is a very important program, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible for food policy. Most of our food policy in the United States is about health care. It's about feeding people and assisting those who don't have adequate access to fresh fruits and vegetables through creation of farmers markets and things like that. I'm here tonight because I'm deeply disturbed by the attention and sort of the media satisfaction that some are getting when they hear about the Ryan budget cut, squeeze, and trim; and I want to talk tonight a little bit not only to the families that receive the benefits but to the farmers who grow the food in this country. The Ryan budget is one you ought to look at before you leap, because if you look at it in detail, you will find that it has a lot to do with knowing about the price of everything and the cost of everything, but very little about knowing the value of what these programs are all about.…”