Pete Domenici: “I support the concept of a spending cap which were included in the Balanced Budget Act for agriculture and are also…”

“I support the concept of a spending cap which were included in the Balanced Budget Act for agriculture and are also included in the bipartisan Leahy compromise. The spending caps as provided through a market transition program will benefit both the taxpayer and the farmer. The taxpayer will not end up paying for unforeseen spending and the farmer will know what resources he will have in the future. The Market Transition Program puts a cap on total spending for the wheat, cotton, feed grain, and rice programs at $35.6 billion over 6 years. Spending for the Commodity Credit Corporation programs has varied widely from $0.6 billion in 1975 to $26 billion in 1986. The spending cap in the Market Transition Program will limit unforeseen spending increases which have frequently occurred in past years. It is my hope that the spending restraints included in a market transition program will be retained in the final Senate bill. Mr. President, some have also said that any spending reductions to agriculture is unacceptable. However, any reductions will provide a downpayment toward a balanced budget.”