Political Quotes

“like my colleague from Michigan, I also rise to talk about the farm bill that we will be debating on tomorrow. Of course, in that bill is the sugar subsidy program. There is going to be an amendment, the Miller-Miller amendment, and I rise in strong support of it. The sugar program hurts working people in my congressional district and the Miller-Miller amendment would help to redress the harm that they have suffered. The candy industry is important to the Chicago area. There are 31,000 confectionery employees in Illinois, with 15,000 of those in Cook County. Unfortunately, employment in the confectionery industry in Chicago has fallen 11 percent since 1991. The sugar program has contributed to this decline. Along with other members of the Illinois delegation, I have repeatedly spoken on this floor about the injury caused to my constituents by the sugar program. We have not been alone. Mayor Daley and the Chicago City Council strongly oppose the sugar program. They are joined in this opposition by city business leaders and the Chicago Federation of Labor. For companies that make nonchocolate candy, sugar is a large portion of their total costs. The U.S. sugar program supports prices in our domestic market so that candymakers in Chicago are forced to pay more than twice as much for sugar as their competitors abroad.”