Angie Craig: “earlier this afternoon, I spoke on the floor of the importance of this Senate dealing with farm policy in a timely…”

“earlier this afternoon, I spoke on the floor of the importance of this Senate dealing with farm policy in a timely manner that sends the appropriate signals to American agriculture of what they can expect in the reform policy that the 104th Congress is proposing. This afternoon, I earlier spoke of the commodity programs and how they would be affected as we move with production agriculture much closer to the market and away from a Government program with which to farm. There is a good deal more that Government can do for agriculture and still stay out of the business of telling them what to grow and how to grow it, because I think that is the responsibility of the family farmer, and I think that family farmer, or anybody in agriculture today, ought to be attuned to the market and ought to be farming to the market and deciding what his or her business may be, to what the world needs and what our consuming public needs than what a Government program will provide them or not provide them in telling them what to do. In other words, what I am saying, Mr. President, is there are legitimate roles for the Federal Government in its association with agriculture. I think some of those obvious areas are in the area of research, trade and conservation. I say that because where Government should involve itself is where the individual farmer or family farmer really cannot help themselves or cannot help themselves in an individual way.”