Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, the cotton program, as well as many of the other commodity programs, were originally devised during the Depression. These things were supposed to be temporary, as many of the things which came into law during the Depression years were supposed to be temporary. We have a program which is supposed to benefit relatively small cotton farmers. The fact of the matter is, as I stated before, 80 percent of the benefits go to the top 20 high-income agribusinesses, cotton farmers in this country. The money is corporate welfare. That is where it is going. I want to be very up front here. What I would have preferred to do and what I also offered with the gentleman from New York is to eliminate all farm subsidies, all price supports, altogether, 1 year after that bill passed. We are not going to get there right away. This is one step. This is an improvement in this particular farm bill, and I hope this amendment passes.”