Political Quotes

“Essentially there are two risks that farmers cannot control. One of them is if the prices collapse. And we have seen prices collapse often in the years I have been in the House below the cost of raising the crop. In that circumstance, farmers need help. We also see the risk of production failure where weather and natural disasters produce a broad crop failure. Well, the 2002 farm bill referenced by my friend, Mr. Flake, restored protection for farmers when prices collapse. Prior to that restoration, we had a farm bill that did not respond when prices collapsed, and during the late 1990s we sought not one but two, maybe even three disaster bills to respond to the price collapse. The 2002 farm bill fixed that, and with price support payments that trigger when prices hit a certain low level, we have not had to come the disaster route to deal with price collapse again. The result has been a tremendous savings for taxpayers.”