Political Quotes

“the Senate passed a farm bill a few weeks ago--a pretty good farm bill. The House Agriculture Committee has reported out of its committee a farm bill, and now the discussion of whether we have a farm bill is a decision to be made by the leadership of the House, of whether a farm bill should come up. So I wish to speak about the necessity of a farm and nutrition bill being passed. It is called a farm and nutrition bill because about 80 percent of a farm bill's expenditures are related to the food stamp program. If we can get this bill completed and to the President's desk, it will be the eighth farm bill I have had a chance to participate in. Every 5 years or so, Congress debates, changes, argues over, and ultimately passes a farm and nutrition bill--not always of that title but pretty much of that content. This time should be no different. We need to get the job done. I understand there are folks who want to see more cuts here or there, and there are folks who want to spend more here or there. Those are very important discussions to have. We should have a healthy debate on how to tweak, reform, and reshape the policies in the bill, whether it is in regard to programs affecting farmers or the portion of the bill that receives the overwhelming share of the dollars, as I said, the nutrition title. We had those debates in the Senate Agriculture Committee. We had those debates on the Senate floor. The House Agriculture Committee has had those debates.…”