Political Quotes

“American agriculture is in a predicament. Should we go to the free market system and say survival of the fittest in an international market and price for food and fiber? It is complicated by a couple of situations. One is the fact that other countries, such as Europe, subsidize their farmers up to five times as much as we subsidize our farmers. How interested are we in maintaining a vital agricultural economy in the United States? I would suggest to my colleagues that that ability to produce food is even more important than the production of energy for our national security. With our dependency on imported energy, we have seen what can happen when OPEC decides to hold back. Think what might happen with food. Right now, farmers are faced with low commodity prices. A 27-year low for soybeans, 25-year low for cotton, a 14-year low for wheat and corn, an 8-year low for rice. Over the past 3 years, net cash income fell in real dollars to its lowest point since the depression. Now is the time that we have to make the decision of standing up for the survival of American agriculture. I would just suggest that farmers need help to survive. In addition to low commodity prices we have seen increased fuel costs of $2.4 billion over the last year because of higher energy prices.”