Jack Kingston: “I think the House bill should be passed, as is, by both bodies. I do not feel that way about the potential Senate bill…”

“I think the House bill should be passed, as is, by both bodies. I do not feel that way about the potential Senate bill, and even though I have not seen or read the Senate bill in its entirety, I have a lot of concerns about what is coming out of the Senate side of this bill. Making research mandatory, for example, puts research funding at the tune of $780 million on the same level with Social Security, VA payments, Medicare and Medicaid, and unlike making a decision to postpone research on certain kinds of plants and animals, one cannot postpone payments on Social Security, and I do not think that the Senate bill is right in trying to make research mandatory. I also have concerns about the $300 million Fund for America, which would allow the Secretary of Agriculture to have a pot of money that could be used to reward or punish friends and enemies accordingly. I do not think that is a proper thing, that we need to put more politics in it. I am also concerned about what this bill could do in terms of an unfunded mandates to Medicaid to our States. I have a lot of concerns about it, but I do want to emphasize, Mr. Speaker, I think the House bill is the model which we need to pass. I do not think the Senate bill is.”