Tom Latham: “That is an excellent point. There is no one more concerned about conservation, the environment, than these farmers that…”

“That is an excellent point. There is no one more concerned about conservation, the environment, than these farmers that these regulations are just strangling today. These are the people who want to pass their land on to the next generation. They are the ones who are raising their children on a farm that are drinking the water out of the wells that are being regulated. They are the ones who want to preserve the quality of the soil itself, because that is livelihood. They are the ones directly concerned, and it would impact them greatly if it is destroyed. There is no farmer anywhere who is going to pollute his well and make his children drink that. It is simply outrageous. No one in agriculture is saying that there are not wetlands out there, and that they should be preserved, because there are. People want--they love to hunt in my district, they love to fish, they love to see the ducks come in, even if you do not hunt, but to have someone come on your farm after it has been in production for 80 or 90 years and tell you then that you can do longer use your land anymore is simply outrageous. It is not a matter of people being against the environment, but it is absolutely overkill by the Federal Government, and that is what people are so outraged about.”