Matthew Russell: “This amendment addresses but redirects; it does not eliminate any funds from the Value Added Producer Grants. These $18…”

“This amendment addresses but redirects; it does not eliminate any funds from the Value Added Producer Grants. These $18 million worth of grants are designed to generate new products, expand market opportunities, and assist beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, family farms, and even veterans entering farming. Unfortunately, millions of these funds go to fund alcohol products. While there is nothing inherently wrong with alcohol products, of the government funds that are used for promotion of these products through the program, we also note that the alcohol industry spends $7.6 million a year in lobbying costs. Not only do these tax dollars used to fund the promotion of alcohol take away from non-alcohol-based farmers and ranchers, they also compete with the Government itself. Every year, we spend millions of dollars to curtail the use and abuse of alcohol. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the impacts and loss of alcohol abuse results in $249 billion a year in economic, workplace absence, healthcare loss, criminal justice expenses, and vehicle crash costs. Mr. Chairman, it makes no sense that the Government should spend money to both promote and curtail an industry. This amendment preserves the Value Added Grants for farmers that have no $8-million-a-year industry to lobby for them, and it ends the duplicitous practice of the Government being both for and against something that costs the Nation nearly $250 billion in annual economic loss.…”