Marcy Kaptur: “yes, I rise in strong opposition to this rule because I really do not think it is the job of the Committee on Rules to…”

“yes, I rise in strong opposition to this rule because I really do not think it is the job of the Committee on Rules to thwart the will of the committees of this House, both the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Appropriations. Because this rule, in fact, destroys the delicate balance that has been struck between key provisions in this bill. For example, as Dean Kleckner, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, says, the bill is very carefully crafted, balancing the needs of four communities: our research committee, those farmers that need crop insurance, food stamps for over 250,000 legal, and I underline legal, immigrants, and of course rural development. One of the other reasons to vote ``no'' on the rule is it actually is a budget buster because, in effect, the offsets that are included in the provisions that are struck leave us with $1.2 billion in additional deficit because of what has happened in the way the rule is crafted. So I urge my colleagues to vote ``no''. This is bad policy. It is bad procedure. And it undermines key agricultural interests across this nation.”