Dick Lugar: “I did not object to the Ford sense-of-the-Senate amendment to S. 1061. I agree with its sentiment that the needs of…”

“I did not object to the Ford sense-of-the-Senate amendment to S. 1061. I agree with its sentiment that the needs of tobacco farmers should be taken into account when Congress considers the proposed tobacco settlement. I wish to express reservations about two points in the Ford amendment's language. First, the amendment says that any compensation to tobacco growers should ``be included within the $368.5 billion in payments.'' However, we do not now know that the size of the settlement will be precisely $368.5 billion. It may be larger. Moreover, payments to growers might be additive to the settlement amount, whatever its size. Second, the amendment expresses a desire to ensure ``the continued administration of a viable federal tobacco program which operates at no net cost to the taxpayer.'' I favor compensating tobacco farmers for the equity they have built up in the quota system over the years. Such a buyout of the quota program should lead to, at most, a minimal price-supporting role for the Government. That is what we have done for the producers of most other commodities in the 1996 FAIR Act: Transition payments, and price supports at market-clearing levels. I believe that to continue the present tobacco program without change is not likely to be viable, so I find the amendment's language acceptable.”