Political Quotes

“people often ask their elected officials, ``If smoking is so dangerous, why does Congress subsidize tobacco?'' Today, my colleagues Senator Gregg of New Hampshire and Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey are joining me in introducing legislation that will give my colleagues an answer to this question. The Tobacco Subsidy Reduction Act of 1997 ends the largest direct federal subsidy of tobacco. Specifically, this legislation prohibits the federal government from offering crop insurance or providing crop insurance subsidies for tobacco. For consistency, it also prohibits payments for tobacco under the Non-Insured Disaster Assistance Program, an alternative risk management program created in the 1996 Farm Bill for crops not eligible for the crop insurance program. Tobacco growing and processing is one of the most lucrative industries in America. To protect their profits despite the health dangers of their product, tobacco growers created the ``no net cost'' price support program. But a variety of taxpayer subsidies to tobacco remain, including crop insurance, extension services, and other programs assisting tobacco production and sales. Last year, the federal government spent $98 million on tobacco-related subsidies and programs.”