Donald M. Payne: “I am in full support of the Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest-Dingell amendment. This amendment will increase funding for…”

“I am in full support of the Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest-Dingell amendment. This amendment will increase funding for conservation programs and give farmers and ranchers the ability to solve water quality problems, to improve the health of the land and to protect wildlife. Conservation programs preserve land by encouraging farmers not to farm on highly erodible lands, provide assistance in controlling polluted water runoff and encourages preservation of wetlands. This amendment successfully addresses the concerns of 70 percent of all farmers who produce at least 80 percent of all agricultural products by increasing conservation programs accessible to all kinds of farming. This amendment does not take money away from the agriculture community. It will simply shift $1.9 billion a year away from commodity programs to conservation programs, which will subsequently reach more regions of the country. This amendment also extends the wetlands reserve program. This program continues to be popular in my area of the country in New Jersey, and I am equally pleased to acknowledge the benefits that this amendment will provide to States along the Mississippi River as well as the West and in Florida. I would even like to see us go further, but I will ask that we fully support this amendment and urge my colleagues to vote for it.”