Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Schweikert) for giving me this opportunity to speak on behalf of H.R. 519, the Water and Agriculture Tax Reform Act of 2018. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Thompson for his work on this and making sure that this is, in fact, a bipartisan effort and a much better bill than it started out as. I also want to thank Chairman Brady in the Ways and Means Committee for working with me to bring this bill to the floor. I introduced this bill last year, and Chairman Brady has been a good partner in assisting with its passage from the committee. Mr. Speaker, farmers, ranchers, and families, businesses, sportsmen, everyone in my district relies on water for their livelihood, but in the arid prairies of the Great Plains, water is running short. Under the blistering Colorado Sun, poorly watered crops quickly become less productive and may die altogether. Farmers around my district tell me they are moving operations elsewhere because they don't have access to water or they simply can't afford it. Agricultural communities around the Nation will face economic crisis if farmers and ranchers cannot afford water. H.R. 519 is a key step towards solving this problem. It offers farmers and ranchers an affordable water supply; and in doing so, it supports not only our agricultural communities, but everyone in America who relies on farms and ranches for food. My bill seeks to help farmers by empowering them to support each other.…”