Marcy Kaptur: “Mr. Chairman, at a time of recession, rising unemployment in our country, the currency fluctuations that are affecting…”

“Mr. Chairman, at a time of recession, rising unemployment in our country, the currency fluctuations that are affecting our markets internationally and great dependency on the Federal Government by our farm sector for economic survival, this bill fails to meet the needs of today's economy, including in rural America, for a countercyclical boost. The allocation that we received forced our committee to produce a bill that is nearly $1 billion under last year's level, indeed $872 million. This situation exists partly because of the fault of the administration which submitted a request to us that did not provide support in many critical areas. In part, it is the fault of this Republican Congress which adopted a budget resolution that did not recognize the vital role that agriculture plays as a pillar of our economy. In fact, the allocation, as I said, for this bill is well below the administration's request as well as last year's level. As a result, the bill underinvests in rural America.”