Political Quotes

“Madam President, as we come back into session this evening and into September, as Chair of the Agriculture Committee I have one message for colleagues in the House of Representatives--for the Speaker, for the Republican leadership--and that is, we need a farm bill now. We have 20 days until the farm bill expires--only 20 days. If that happens, if the Republican leadership does not work with us to pass a 5-year farm bill, they are going to reset the clock for rural America all the way back to 1949. Because if the farm bill expires, we go back to Depression-era policies that include government planting restrictions and expensive price supports--absolutely unacceptable. Some of those policies even reference prices from before World War I. This would be terrible for our family farmers and ranchers. It would throw the markets into complete disarray. There is no reason this should be allowed to happen. The full Senate has worked together and passed a bipartisan farm bill. The House Agriculture Committee worked together and passed a bipartisan farm bill. It is time for the House to complete its work. The House Republican leadership has refused to let the bipartisan bill come up for a vote. Despite our best efforts in speaking with colleagues and working together over the August break to try to come up with a way to get this done, we find ourselves in a position now where our only opportunity is for the House to take up the bill that was passed by their committee and get this done.…”