Jeff Miller: “I have sweet news. The General Accounting Office just released a report today on the United States Sugar Program. This…”

“I have sweet news. The General Accounting Office just released a report today on the United States Sugar Program. This is an update of the 1993 report, and the report says that the United States program supporting sugar prices increases user costs while benefiting producers. The bottom line in this 100-page document is that the sugar program in the United States costs the American consumer, the American economy, $2 billion a year. $2 billion a year. Mr. Speaker, this is the General Accounting Office. This is the independent, nonpartisan office here in Washington that works for Congress. The head of the agency has got a 15-year term. So there is no partisanship in this. This report was requested by Senator Diane Feinstein, the Democrat from California, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), Democrat, and myself, a Republican from Florida. This is not a biased report coming from the Agriculture Department or the sugar growers, but the most authoritative source; and it shows that the sugar program costs $2 billion a year. The sugar program is bad for consumers, bad for the environment, and bad for jobs in this country.”