Deborah Koff Ross: “My colleagues, this is not about rich farmers against poor farmers. It is not about corporate farmers against…”

“My colleagues, this is not about rich farmers against poor farmers. It is not about corporate farmers against noncorporate farmers. It is not even about conservationists against those who feed America. Because our farm families, our row croppers were this country's first conservationists. This is about whether we want this country to become dependent on other countries for our food and fiber the way we have for our oil. We spent 8 months in the House Committee on Agriculture, where I sit, writing this farm bill in a bipartisan effort. It is not the bill I would have written. I am sure the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) would have liked to have seen more in it for conservation. I would have liked to have seen more in it for row crops. But this is a democracy, and in a democracy and in our committee we compromised. And let us never forget that that compromise included increasing baseline spending for conservation by 78 percent. The 1996 farm bill did not work. If this amendment passes, the 2001 farm bill will not work. Farmers are going broke across the delta, across the southern half of Arkansas, and across much of America.”