Political Quotes

“I strongly favor the underlying bill; but as I mentioned in my opening comments in general debate, the underlying bill is not perfect. I believe one of the more visible imperfections is its failure to address payment limits. I think, as an advocate for family farmers, that our ability to sustain the Nation's commitment to farm programs depends upon the American public feeling like their taxpayer dollars are supporting family farmers, not large corporate enterprises that simply do not have the same compelling case to make for the Nation's resources. The GAO has reported that one-half of all farm payments went to just 7 percent of all farms, the largest farms. This is misdirected policy. By passing the Smith amendment, we place a limit that actually works, that limit $150,000 in Federal payments, a significant amount of Federal support. I believe it would work. I recognize that there are economic differences in the production of various commodities and that the production of rice and cotton, Southern-based commodities, requires larger economic operations. At the same time, by moving this payment limit from where it was just 2 years ago, from $75,000 up to the $150,000, I think much has been done to accommodate the different scale of economics undergirding production in that part of the region. Make no mistake about it: in the end, payment limits make sense.”