Joseph T. Burns: “I will assume I was next in the queue. I thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on Agriculture for bringing this…”

“I will assume I was next in the queue. I thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on Agriculture for bringing this conference report up. You know, I just want to point out to the American people that even though the total of this bill is $100 billion--That's--I rounded that off a little bit--only $25 billion gets to production agriculture. We could add in some conservation programs and watershed and this type of thing and probably get that up a little higher but not a lot. What I am trying to say, better than half of this bill does not go to the farm and ranch producing community in this country, and yet the bill is $100 billion. I have been on the Appropriations Committee since 1993. For 12 years, I have served with my colleagues in this body and have gone through a lot of conferences. I have chaired some. I have been ranking in some. There are a lot of good things in this bill that help my State of Montana and agriculture across this Nation, but if there is one shortcoming--I say, not very much of it gets to the farmers and ranchers out of this $100 billion. I was a county commissioner. I understand WIC. I understand nutrition programs. I understand food stamps for those folks who really need help. I'll tell you what, it is born in every one of us who comes out of the farm and ranch community: we do not like to see people hungry. We have always been like that.…”