Bill Barrett: “I am pleased that the House actually has an opportunity to discuss a strong amendment to the farm bill such as this…”

“I am pleased that the House actually has an opportunity to discuss a strong amendment to the farm bill such as this amendment. I am particularly excited about the Conservation Reserve Program, as has been pointed out. As a long time supporter of the Agricultural Marketing Transition Act, I will admit I had a concern about moving a farm bill without a conservation section, which should have been included in the reauthorization of the program itself. Without the Boehlert-Barrett-Peterson amendment, we would be ignoring about 15 million acres of CRP land that will be coming out of the program this year. If you add the CRP contracts to expire next year, we are talking about 24 million acres of land. So the Conservation Reserve Program, which was established in 1985, helps to protect our soil and water. It is an extremely important matter that we continue the program. It has a wide spectrum of interests, and farmers and environmentalists and sportsmen and the public sector, frankly, get large benefits from the program, and the House should not dismiss our responsibility to reauthorize the program. It is a good amendment, it is an amendment that should be adopted. It will help complete the farm bill and give the House a position on CRP as we go to conference with the Senate. So, Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, I would say please support the amendment, vote yes on Boehlert-Barrett-Peterson.”