Tom Latham: “First of all, Mr. Speaker, I just want to publicly say how much I appreciate the great work of our chairman. This will…”

“First of all, Mr. Speaker, I just want to publicly say how much I appreciate the great work of our chairman. This will be his last bill as chairman of the subcommittee. It has been just an absolute pleasure and an honor to work with the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen). I know the gentleman is staying here next year and everything; but because of the rules, he will no longer be chairman of this subcommittee; and I just want to tell him on a personal level how much I appreciate all his hard work and what a great job he has done for New Mexico and for the rest of the country. And to the ranking member, Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), it is a real pleasure and it is fun to work with her with the interest we all have in agriculture. Mr. Speaker, this, I think, is an excellent appropriations bill. We have been through a very long process throughout the entire year with hearings, listening to the concerns of the people and the agencies, their proposals, expressing concerns at the way management in some of the agencies has taken place and trying to do the best job possible in this bill to address those concerns. The one major concern we have, as far as delivering services in Iowa, and I think throughout the country, is with the FSA offices. This bill increases funding for those people who are at the ground level doing the work out there, actually in contact with the farmers themselves; and these people are working their hearts out in the countryside.”