Chuck Grassley: “with today's passage of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, we have taken a step in the right direction for…”

“with today's passage of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, we have taken a step in the right direction for rural America after well over a year of work on this bill. This legislation will result in new opportunities for U.S. farmers, rural business owners, and those who require food assistance during a time of rising food prices. I am pleased that the Senate has finally voted in favor of its implementation. None of this would have been possible without the leadership of our chairman and ranking member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Harkin and Senator Chambliss. I want to thank both of their staffs and in particular Mark Halverson, majority staff director, and Martha Scott Poindexter, minority staff director, for their hard work and dedication to bring this 5-month conference to a conclusion. For the first time in the process of writing a farm bill, the tax writing committees were asked to help fund a portion of the spending. I have strong concerns about this, which I have expressed previously. Still, we would not be here today without the hard work and leadership of the chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus.”