Political Quotes

“I wanted to share some thoughts, and I appreciate this discussion, obviously. As you know, Senator Roberts and I have basically coauthored the last two farm bills, and we all care deeply about rural America. I grew up in rural America. We have to get things done that are going to help small towns in rural America. The distinguished Senator from North Dakota and I have been talking about what we need to be doing in a number of ways. I just wanted to indicate that, when we talk about the needs that have been addressed through the market facilitation with payments and so on, I think we have a joint interest in making sure all of agriculture that has been hurt will be benefited by this. I understand the concerns about livestock. About half the cash receipts of the country are what we broadly call specialty crops. I can tell you that as the No. 1 producer of tart cherries in the country-- maybe the world--we have been hit so very hard by unfair practices with Turkey that we could lose the industry. We have received no help so far from the CCC. If we are going to move forward, I have supported and will continue to support doing things we need to do for farmers, but we have to recognize all of the needs. I am certainly willing to work with you on that because that has to happen. I would finally say this. On the one end, we have our farmers. On the other end, we have all of us who eat.…”