Austin Scott: “we are at an extraordinarily important moment. The people of America are watching us all across this country. The U.S.…”

“we are at an extraordinarily important moment. The people of America are watching us all across this country. The U.S. agricultural community and industry employs over 20 percent of our entire workforce and accounts for $3.5 trillion every year in our economy. And it is just somewhat baffling to me as we look, and we have worked together in the committee to get many competing forces together, that the gentleman and gentlewomen on the other side of the aisle would turn their backs on the American people and all the work that we did together and in bringing these competing forces together, whether it was black farmers or our Traditionally Black Colleges, or food stamp recipients, all with compelling needs, country of origin labeling, on a whimsical excuse, because we had to balance and score this at a time so that we would have pay-as-you-go so we wouldn't put it on the backs of our children and grandchildren to pay for this farm bill; went to Ways and Means and asked them to find a way to get us $4 billion, and they went and got a way that was first presented by President Bush. President Bush said, let us close this loophole on foreign companies that are using what is known as earning strippings to stop paying taxes like every other American business. When President Bush said this just 6 months ago, there was no hue and cry about a tax increase. There is no tax increase on this. This is a good bill. Let's pass it.”