Patsy T. Mink: “If the Miller-Schumer amendment were to pass today, it would mean virtually the end of the domestic sugar production…”

“If the Miller-Schumer amendment were to pass today, it would mean virtually the end of the domestic sugar production here in this country, and it would forfeit over 400,000 jobs, about 6,000 in my district. I come from an agricultural part of Hawaii. We are very proud of the contributions that the sugar industry has made not only to the State but to the country. The only people that are going to benefit from the Miller-Schumer amendment are the mega-international food cartels because it is in their interests to be able to buy cheap sugar. They are not interested in the American jobs that are dependent upon the sugar program, and contrary to what the gentleman said in offering this amendment, last year in the farm bill there were major revisions made to the sugar program and those revisions were agreed to by those of us who support this program. So I urge my colleagues, in the interests of saving U.S. jobs, protecting the farmers, understanding the commitment we made for 7 years to this program, I urge them to defeat this amendment.”