Political Quotes

“Today the Committee on Appropriations marked up and passed out the agricultural appropriations bill. That will be on the House floor next week. In that effort this morning, there was an attempt to put language into that appropriations bill that would have the effect of having limits on the payments that go out to some of the very, very big, big farmers. That amendment was squelched. A tremendous amount of pressure. In the House, where we attempted to instruct conferees when the farm bill went through, that vote was overwhelming in giving the will of this House, this body, that we should have some kind of payment limits for farmers on farm price supports. Let me just briefly, Mr. Speaker, explain the problem. We sort of hoodwink a lot of the American people by saying there are limits on what a farmer can receive. Not so. Because there is a loophole in the law. It is called generic certificates. After a farmer reaches the $75,000 limit that is allocated in the bill as a limit, from that point on there is a gimmick called generic certificates, that the government will sell the farmer the generic certificate to pay for the commodity. The farmer ends up getting the same kind of benefit as what is limited under the $75,000 limitation. I would call to my colleagues' attention that next week we are trying to get language in the agricultural appropriations bill that will have some kind of a limit.”