Luke Messer: “I want to thank my colleague and friend from Illinois, Congressman Davis, for his incredible leadership on this issue. I…”

“I want to thank my colleague and friend from Illinois, Congressman Davis, for his incredible leadership on this issue. I know of nobody in Congress who is working harder for the American family farmer than Congressman Davis. This Special Order today is just one more example of your leadership. Farming is hard work, and it is vital to Indiana. Ag industries contribute almost $38 billion a year to the Hoosier economy, supporting nearly 190,000 jobs. The farmers who provide these jobs work from dawn until way past dusk and face great risks when withering droughts or excess rains threaten to wreck their crops. Despite these challenges, Hoosier farmers manage to overcome adversity, succeed in their businesses, and feed the world. Too often, their work is made even harder because of uncertainties and inefficiencies in Federal farm policy. {time} 1615 The problems with Federal farm laws are many: Price supports inflate the prices of some consumer goods; payments are made to people not actually farming; outdated and duplicative programs waste money that could be put to better use; rules regarding disaster assistance are too complicated; and they fail to provide enough certainty about whether and what return farmers will receive when they reinvest any profits in their family business. Many are surprised that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called ``food stamps,'' is administered by the Department of Agriculture, the USDA.…”