On the recordJune 20, 2013
I thank the gentleman for yielding. The idea that somehow this amendment creates free and fair trade is a fallacy, and the idea that somehow sugar has not been reformed in recent years and decades is also a fallacy. The greatest reformation of the sugar program is the North American Free Trade Agreement, which gave access to U.S. markets completely, not only to the sugar farmers south of us, but to the Governments of Mexico and Brazil. The idea that a no-net-cost program like the American sugar program is somehow a great advantage over countries like Brazil, which is subsidized with tax dollars of $2.5 to $3 billion per year, I think is the most distorting fact in this entire debate. I rise to oppose this amendment, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.
