Paul Tonko: “Representative Ryan, what a great coalescing going on in Ohio, and what a statement by the middle class, of people of…”

“Representative Ryan, what a great coalescing going on in Ohio, and what a statement by the middle class, of people of all backgrounds coming together speaking with one voice, based on a common thread of jobs, the dignity of work, powerful statement. And we should all be motivated and inspired by that outcome. You talked about government's role to plant the garden. Let me just talk about another sector just to associate with that element of agriculture just for a bit here this afternoon. Why such a struggle on this House floor to get the dollars for farmers who were impacted by natural disaster? I saw record flooding in my district. We had wonderfully productive soils in the upstate regions of New York State. You would think that it wasn't part of some industrial sector, that there wasn't an ag sector in our economy. All they were asking for was to have debris removal dollars, to have farm land restoration, crop land restoration dollars at a time when we were impacted by the ravages of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Was that too much to ask? Well, I'm happy to see that the push here in this House coming from those of us who have visited those districts and really pushed the agenda are able to account for $338.6 million being added so that we can take programs like the Emergency Conservation Program, the Emergency Water Protection Program, and allow for restoration of farm land, debris removal and all the activities that will drive productivity back to the farm.…”