Victor Fazio: “I am specifically talking about small wine grape growers, most of whom market their products through several large…”

“I am specifically talking about small wine grape growers, most of whom market their products through several large wineries. This is an amendment to help small agriculture. Remember, the European Union spends more on the export promotion of wine than the United States spends promoting all of our agricultural products. They do a great deal to help their growers promote their foreign sales. The European Community wine industries are heavily subsidized to the tune of $1.5 billion, which includes $90 million alone for export promotion. That is the total amount provided for all of agriculture in this bill, if it is not reduced or eliminated. Other countries do even more than the European Union. The Italian Government through its trade commission is funding an additional $25 million for Italian wines alone. So when it comes to the wine industry, the MAP program that we are now debating is a program that helps small business, not visit the giant wineries, not only the names that we have heard bandied about here on the floor. In fact in 1994, for example, 101 wineries participated and 89 of them were small wineries.”