Dick Lugar: “I am pleased to announce I have received a letter from the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, dated February…”

“I am pleased to announce I have received a letter from the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, dated February 7, 2002. The letter states: Dear Senator Lugar: On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, I am writing to inform you of our support for your amendment to S. 1731, the Farm Bill, which would replace current farm program payments with fixed annual equity payments to eligible farmers beginning in 2003. Your amendment provides equitable Federal assistance to all U.S. farmers and ranchers, and it saves taxpayers approximately $20 billion over the next five years. Current farm policy allocates two out of every three farm subsidy dollars to the top 10 percent of subsidy recipients, while completely shutting 60 percent of farmers out of subsidy programs. Your amendment will provide a more equitable farm program, a significant improvement over the present system, which provides the overwhelming percentage of government payments to large farms rather than smaller farms that are most in need of assistance.”