Political Quotes

“I am for a free market. If you are for a free market for dairy farmers and dairy products, then you vote against the Solomon amendment. The producers organizations across the country from coast to coast have now endorsed the committee version of this bill. They do it because they go to a free market. Why some are nervous about the increase in price is because immediately under the committee bill we take away government purchases of powder and butter. That means that under the GATT negotiations, farmers can take advantage of export markets. There is some fear that if farmers take advantage of export prices, the price of milk might go up. If we are after a free market, what we do is vote down the Solomon amendment and get government out of the hair of the dairy farmers of this country. They are having a very difficult time surviving. If we do not get this bill passed, I say that many of the dairy farmers in my district are going to give up the ghost and go out of business. Let us just review the organizations that support this: Nationally, the NFO, NFU, National Farm Bureau, again essentially every producer organization; a few in California do not support the bill. The California program is unique. I urge you to look at a free enterprise system that is going to maintain a dairy industry in the United States that is going to satisfy our needs and not evolve into a situation where we have to depend on imports for milk.”