Political Quotes

“I first wish to thank Senator Harkin as chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and past chair of the Agriculture Committee for his words of concern regarding the House budget as it relates to agriculture. I share those concerns and I thank him for speaking out on that. It is just one more reason to pass a farm bill. We need to get a farm bill done right now. Let me say to all of my colleagues, and particularly in the House because we have done our job in the Senate and we are ready to complete the task of getting a farm bill, we now only have 17 days, 17 days until the current farm bill expires on September 30. Seventeen days. We know as a practical matter, because the House says they are leaving next Friday, it is actually shorter, but we have 17 days before the end of the month, before the current policy expires and we begin to see a phase-in of policies that end up going back to 1949 by the first of the year on subsidies and planting restrictions and a whole range of things that cost a lot of money and make no sense. I am asking that the House come together, as we did in the Senate when we passed our bipartisan farm bill on June 21, and pass a farm bill in the House. We passed the Agricultural Reform, Food, and Jobs Act by a bipartisan vote of 64 to 35. I believe the votes are there in the House of Representatives if there is a willingness to have a bipartisan vote.…”