William R. Richardson: “these are two provisions, two amendments that, in my judgment, support the dairy industry. This Solomon amendment is…”

“these are two provisions, two amendments that, in my judgment, support the dairy industry. This Solomon amendment is better. It appeals to a broad spectrum of the industry, consumer groups, free market groups, because this provision saves real money. It gets the Federal Government out of price support on a date certain. And most importantly, it does not pit one region against the other. What we are doing here is a compromise, and like all good compromises, all sides will be able to live with it. This is a good provision. It is fairer than the other one. It is one that the industry can support, and, more importantly, it does not put the West against the Midwest, and it is a provision that deserves this House's support. I support the Solomon-Dooley amendment because it will give United States dairymen the opportunity to compete in international markets. Just like we should do what is best by maintaining the peanut program we should maintain the reforms in our current dairy system by supporting the Solomon-Dooley amendment. Our American dairymen can produce milk more efficiently than any other country in the world. In recent years we have made other countries open their markets through trade agreements like NAFTA and GATT. Now we must give our dairymen the tools to compete for that international business. I think the Solomon-Dooley amendment also protects our domestic milk market to make sure other countries do not take over our dairy market.”