Bill Barrett: “the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee's bill is a slap in the face to rural America. Last week the…”

“the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee's bill is a slap in the face to rural America. Last week the subcommittee approved a bill that would provide $581 million less in budget authority for agriculture programs for fiscal year 1997. The subcommittee's bill demonstrates the blatant lack of understanding many in Congress have for the 1996 farm bill and for America's farmers. The Agriculture Committee worked for more than a year on a farm bill that would meet the needs of farmers, and our obligations in balancing the budget. We created a program of fixed, but declining payments to transition farmers from dependence on the government, to market-based production. The subcommittee's bill invalidates the farm bill and these contracts. Today, I'm speaking especially to all of my colleagues from rural districts. Let's drop this partisanship. As aggies we must work together to fight, once again, this attack on agriculture.”