Sherrod Brown: “our bipartisan amendment, on behalf of Senators Sununu, McCaskill, McCain, Durbin, and Schumer, takes dollars from where…”

“our bipartisan amendment, on behalf of Senators Sununu, McCaskill, McCain, Durbin, and Schumer, takes dollars from where they do not belong--that is, heavily subsidized crop insurers--and invests them in priorities with a return to the United States, as nutrition programs, conservation programs, and initiatives that create sustainable economic development in other countries which, after all, is the key to strong export markets. Our amendment does not increase the cost of crop insurance for any farmer. That is an important point. It merits repeating. Our amendment does not increase the cost of crop insurance for any farmer. Instead, it reduces the excessive taxpayer-funded fees that crop insurers receive for servicing their customers. The savings from this amendment will be invested in programs that work--programs such as McGovern-Dole which provides school lunches to the over 100 million children around the world who suffer from hunger. There is a reason the House provides $800 million in mandatory funding for this program; the Senate provided none. There is a reason this program was developed by and is named after two of the most notable Members of this body. The reason is this program stands out. It melds compassion with common sense, feeding the hungry and building sustainable economies in the developing countries, making our country safer. We responded to a hostile Communist threat in Europe with the Marshall Plan.…”