Political Quotes

“we will discuss this amendment, I am sure, at great length. We have here a system for producers who are experiencing farm income loss which we feel is only fair and will help farmers all across the country. Members have heard two of our distinguished colleagues and the chairman of the Commerce Committee saying that they hope we can move forward with passage of this bill this week. I do, too. I also want to say I have a lot to say about this amendment I have just offered because it goes to the heart of this bill for me and for my constituents and it deals directly, it deals most directly, with how my constituents are treated. Very briefly, if the quota is removed, you make the tobacco companies another $1 billion a year. If you remove the tobacco quota, the value of the land in Kentucky to my farmers is reduced up to $7 billion. A farmer could go to bed tonight having a mortgage that was completely covered by the land he owned or had mortgaged, and we take the tobacco quota away from him and he wakes up the next morning and he doesn't have enough value for that land to cover his mortgage, and his mortgage is called. So I think it is important that we begin to look at the ramifications of losing the tobacco program as we know it. We have tried to put into this amendment the transition from where we are today as it relates to the tobacco program to what might come in the future if we reduce underage smoking. I am very much for the reduction of underage smoking.”