Kim Reynolds: “I serve on the Committee on Rules which has the responsibility of technically looking at claims of jurisdiction, waiving…”

“I serve on the Committee on Rules which has the responsibility of technically looking at claims of jurisdiction, waiving points of order, and other considerations relative to the farm bill this year. We know that it is an open rule. We recognized that the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary wrote a very clear cover letter on the history of jurisdiction and the judiciary responsibility over dairy compacts, and he stated that case in his letter. The Committee on Rules stood by that as no waivers or points of order were made on the legislation. So we have it before us today with a point of order that gets down to family farmers, not technical decisions of the House of Representatives. As some of my colleagues eloquently said before me, September 30 expired the Northeast Dairy Compact. Those farmers in the existing compact and those from my State that have the ability to make the drive into that compact no longer have the compact in existence. So when we look at jurisdiction and the aspect of respect of jurisdiction, particularly as this legislation has had that history since being referred there by the parliamentarian in the 1990s when the compact concept came before us, that is a tough thing to explain to my farmers in New York. Mr. Chairman, I represent the largest dairy-producing county in New York. I cannot tell them why I cannot get an up-or-down vote on farm policy that affects their very livelihoods.”