Andrea Joy Campbell: “I rise to support Senator Crapo's amendment to strike the language in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.…”

“I rise to support Senator Crapo's amendment to strike the language in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. Before the holiday recess, we debated a slightly different version of Senator Reid's proposal. The holidays gave us sufficient time to look over the language and to get feedback. I can tell my colleagues that in my State our Governor, our attorney general, the Colorado Farm Bureau, and literally every rancher and farmer I talked to during the break strongly oppose this language. Senator Reid has included some very controversial language. I have great respect for Senator Reid and consider him a close friend, but I think this is just dead wrong. The recent change cannot cure the flawed provision. First of all, some might refer to Senator Reid's proposal as a mere extension of CREP, a program that can only be extended if it already exists, but water rights should not be part of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. Therefore, the addition of water rights is a fundamental change to the existing program. Such a change should require hearings, study, or some level of congressional inquiry, and yet there has been none to date. Our constituents expect us to be fully informed. Since this is the first that most of us have heard of creating what is effectively a new program, how can we possibly be fully informed? We cannot, and I simply cannot vote for something that can hurt farmers in my State when we do not know the effects.”