On the recordMay 23, 2013
Madam President, let me first say about the comments of Senator Alexander, you see why he is a former university president, a Governor, a Secretary of Education, a candidate for President, and now some would call him a Senator. I think you would call him a statesman, because he tries to lay it out in a way we can all understand it, with facts and not hyperbole, and this is an opportunity for us on both sides to step back from the brink and actually do the people's business, to get something done, to solve big problems. I came to the floor to talk on the Feinstein amendment, knowing it is not up for an hour--and I will be very brief, to my colleague from Virginia, because I know he wants to talk about judges--primarily because there is some misinformation that has been stated. Let me recap the tobacco industry in a very brief summary. Tobacco, like many agricultural products, for years received a price support system that the Federal Government, the Congress of the United States, put in place. A number of years ago, Members of Congress said, for obvious reasons, the Federal Government probably should not have a price support on something we consider not to be best for people's health. At that time farmers reluctantly listened to Members of Congress who said the international market should be open to you and we should do our best to make it unlimited, and we did. At that time we eliminated the price support system.…





