Earl Pomeroy: “I very much thank my chairman for yielding. We are at a time when we have the greatest trade imbalance that we have ever…”

“I very much thank my chairman for yielding. We are at a time when we have the greatest trade imbalance that we have ever had in the history of our country, and the effect of this amendment would be to significantly encroach upon a sugar program that has kept domestic sugar production part of the agricultural production in this country. It is very much on the bubble. Throw open the doors, there are countries around the world heavily subsidizing their domestic product, providing a global dump price well below fair cost to production, meaning the end of U.S. production, reliance entirely upon imported sugar. Now, that has a consequence that goes well beyond trade imbalance because, at that point in time, the pricing of our groceries, turning in part upon the sugar ingredient found in so many of our processed foods, is like the oil we import and burn, out of our control. Volatile pricing of global sugar, volatile pricing of groceries. What we have with the sugar program is fair pricing, a stable food market, a program that needs to continue.”