Collin Peterson: “We hear a lot of talk tonight about this program being a subsidy program. Let us just talk about what this is about.…”

“We hear a lot of talk tonight about this program being a subsidy program. Let us just talk about what this is about. This is about trade. We in this body, in the dead of the night, in a lame duck session, passed a GATT Agreement that we should not have passed. I opposed it all the way. But why in the world did we go over and negotiate that agreement, and I had an opportunity to represent this Congress over there, along with the ranking member, where we gave up a lot to come to an agreement on how much sugar we are going to let in this country, and then we come with a bill that will completely undo what we have done in that agreement? These European competitors are subsidizing their producers at twice the level that we are doing in this country. It is not a subsidy, it is just a floor we are putting underneath the products. That is what this is all about. What this amendment is going to do, if we continue this-- and this was done, by the way, last night--it is not thought out. It is not workable. This was just drawn up at the last minute. What this is going to do is force the Secretary of Agriculture to reduce the loan rate, which is going to force us to take these 1.23 metric tons and force sugar into this country, and it is going to destroy this industry. I urge you to oppose this amendment.”