Jeff Miller: “let me correct a few statements made earlier. The gentleman from Montana talked about the fact that with sugar, we were…”

“let me correct a few statements made earlier. The gentleman from Montana talked about the fact that with sugar, we were told in 1996 there was going to be an assessment of about $40 million a year for sugar, generating $280 million over the 7 years. Guess what? They got rid of it in an appropriation bill 2 years ago. We are not collecting that money anymore, so there is no income for deficit reduction in the sugar program. This GAO report that everybody wants to discredit, remember, the GAO is an agency for Congress, a nonpartisan, unbiased agency. This is a very complex issue. As I met with the GAO people, they brought in four distinguished academicians who specialize in agricultural economics to review this program to come up with the best type of report. When we talk about the world trade, the world market, he is right, we have antidumping. So if France subsidizes their sugar, they cannot come in the United States. Australia, the largest grower of sugar, does not subsidize. There are growers around the world that sell at the world price that are not subsidized. Some talk about jobs. Look at all the jobs we are losing in this country. The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) talked about the cranberry growers. They cannot compete with Canadian cranberry growers. There are jobs in this country in the candy business that are moving offshore because they cannot buy candy cheaper, in Canada or the Caribbean.”