The Public Record
Richard Lugar was an American politician and diplomat who served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Lugar was known for his significant contributions to foreign policy and arms control, particularly through the Nunn-Lugar program aimed at securing and dismantling weapons of mass destruction in former Soviet states. His tenure in the Senate was marked by a commitment to bipartisanship and a focus on international security issues.
Senator Domenici proposes a different formula for dairy payments. I will discuss the issue for a few minutes before laying the amendment aside for further debate. Some in the Senate have decided to provide $2 billion in payments to dairy…
I yield myself 2 minutes in support of the McConnell amendment. The distinguished Senator from Kentucky has stated the case well. In earlier debates, both of us pointed out that the McConnell amendment is essential to bringing justice to…
I also propose the elimination of caps on payments to producers based upon production. This is a fairness issue. Since 1983, dairy producers have paid assessments for their programs. These assessments have always been without limitation…
I ask you to join me in making the dairy title of the farm bill equitable to all producers across the country. There is currently $2 billion available in S. 1731 over the next five years for the dairy program. However, the dairy title of…
Just on a historical basis, obviously, the ranching industry has been a large one in the Senator's State for many years, and I suspect that drought has frequently come. I am just simply curious, as a matter of historical record, how have…
Does the Senator have a recollection of how frequently drought has occurred in Wyoming or, for that matter, the surrounding States? Is this an annual situation or perhaps it has occurred 1 out of 3 years? How would the Senator characterize…
I ask the Senator, is it his intent to bring about an authorization for this so-called LAP program, which leads to this point, as the Senator has pointed out, that it has usually been the result of the appropriations process and a disaster…
Yes. I would have to find an alternative crop that looked better for me. For the moment, my guess is that I would probably go to more corn, just as a practical matter. Corn is not so heavily subsidized. The $1.89 I am guaranteed is not as…
The educational process for the young, as well as loans, and this important energy research. Clearly, if our country adopted an energy policy that featured the biomass, the ethanol, or other products that come from that, we would have a…
USDA's Economic Research Service estimates that in calendar year 2000, the latest year for which this data is available, there were, in fact, 764,000 farms in America with an annual gross farm income of $20,000 or more. I cite that figure…
I will make another radical suggestion. This is purely anecdotal from our farm experience. But I planted, over the last 18 years, 60 acres of black walnut trees. This is on acreage that I found was submarginal. We used to plant more, but…
Yes. You asked for alternatives. Clearly, there are a good number of people who are family farmers who intend or at least hope that their farms will be family farms for a long time. They are doing alternative planning.
My theory is that less will be planted; fewer acres of corn will be planted and fewer acres of soybeans will be planted. I believe the current system, plus the additions that your bill would provide, offer incentives to plant more acres. I…
I am pleased that in a few moments the Senate will vote on the Durbin amendment that restores benefits to legal immigrants in our country. We had a good debate last evening which illuminated the fact that there are as many as 500,000…
I stress again that the amendment is identical to President Bush's budget proposal. I think all Senators appreciate that. I want to establish that again. Secondly, I want to establish that the amendment does not affect in any way a…
this is a modest amendment. I stress ``modest.'' In the event that Senators still wish to discuss the issue, I will have another amendment following this which has a much more striking possibility for reform. Nevertheless, this is…
This amendment is a radical adjustment. I am hopeful Senators will be alert to the particulars as well as to the general philosophy of the amendment. It deals with the commodity title. As I have stated on other occasions, the other titles…
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…
The chairman and I have been in entire agreement that we ought to be devoting more of our resources in this bill to research, to agricultural community development--really the bulk of the rural people are not farmers who are going to…
Yes. For example, on my farm, we know that a bushel of soybeans is going to get about $5.43 no matter what the market price is. People lament that beans have been down close to $4 a bushel. Indeed, they are, but not for our farm, or for…
the dilemma for the small farmer is compounded because, in essence, as overproduction occurs, prices remain very low. That hurts large farmers, too. But, as a matter of fact, many large farmers are large because they are efficient farmers…
I appreciate this colloquy with the distinguished Senator because I think we are probably dealing with values and issues which are very important even in the midst of an empty Chamber. I am hopeful other colleagues are listening in from…
I oppose the Harkin amendment on the basis that it is likely to confuse interpretation of the contract issue. It is a narrow issue we are discussing. The amendment offered by the distinguished chairman of the committee is a narrow issue…
the legislation offered by the distinguished occupant of the chair contains provisions that respond, in my judgment, to a number of unintended consequences for the farm sector of our economy. I believe it is a matter of fact that in order…
I appreciate the arguments made by the distinguished Senator. It would appear to this Senator, however, that the objectives of the Harkin amendment are already met on the statute books. The reason I have suggested that the amendment…
Politicians like Dick Lugar
