Pat Roberts

Maybe we could have a year's vacation from these regulations, and we could actually change your purpose.

I am not particularly happy with that response.

I know the comments. I am talking about the analysis to justify it.

I would just say whether it is $108 million in the original CR sent over by the House or $168 million which you get now or $302 million recommended by the President in his budget, I am not sure that you are going to produce one gallon of…

We are going to have to double our ag production to feed those folks, and that is a moral imperative.

We are extremely fortunate to have on today's panel Stan Townsend, who is a producer from Weskan, Kansas.

I share your excitement.

It is also a national security issue as well.

I am not too sure there are any direct flights from Weskan to anywhere.

You have to manage risk. You have to adapt to changing market conditions, and perhaps importantly, lay a proper foundation so that those who follow you can be successful.

What you need is an economist with one arm so he cannot say, 'On the other hand.'

I agree with Commissioner Sommers that the CFTC should quantify the costs of its proposal.

If Senator Johanns is Chicken Little, I am Rooster Big.

So I take it from both of your answers that the answer is yes.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and especially for holding what should be the first of several hearings regarding the implementation of the derivatives provisions included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.

Unfortunately, his Executive order does not apply either to the SEC or the CFTC.

The 15 largest dealers will spend about $1.8 billion, an estimate, to implement the derivatives portion of the Dodd-Frank bill over 3 years. Question: Who do you think will end up paying that bill? Answer, my answer: Consumers.

We have both worked very hard, albeit from the different perspectives, on the Dodd-Frank bill as it went through the Senate last year, yet we share similar ultimate goals of properly reforming the derivatives markets while maintaining…

I would have preferred a more measured approach than what was passed, but I am optimistic that the regulators... have sufficient discretion.

I just think that numbers of economists sort of boggle my mind.

I recently introduced legislation that would correct that oversight.

Won't this timing gap alone create arbitrage opportunities? Moreover, if the EU adopts a less restrictive regime, won't that be an obvious invitation to move the business away from the United States overseas?

What can or should we be doing policy-wise to help guard against a significant drop in farmland values and farm debt?

The unprecedented depth of knowledge and experience on this Committee this time around, I think it will serve all of agriculture and rural America well.

one of the effects of near zero short-term interest rates, coupled with surging commodity prices, is that operators and investors in the Midwest are buying up farmland, and they are, bidding up the price