Political Quotes

“I think everyone in this room knows that I and my colleague, the ranking member, Mr. Peterson, and all members of the Agriculture Committee, have worked very aggressively to try to move the process forward to craft a comprehensive 5-year farm bill, a farm bill that addresses all commodity groups, addresses all regions, meets the needs of all of our producers so we can, as farmers and ranchers, meet the needs of the great American consumer. One of the key points in the motion to recommit before us addresses the question of doing a 5-year farm bill. That's a sense of Congress. I happen to think that that already is the sense of Congress. I would suggest to all of you that if you want, as badly as I want, a comprehensive 5-year farm bill, then the process here is to take these points--they may be valid--but to take these points and bear them in mind. Go home and see your constituents for the next 5 weeks. Go home and discuss the drought in that 65 percent of the United States that's suffering. Go home and explain to them why, from the livestock producers' perspective, there's no assistance in a bill that was promised when it was put together in '08, or they thought they would have access to. Go home and explain that, and build the momentum to come back here and do the farm bill. Then in regular order, on the floor--I know it's kind of a strange concept--we'll debate these and many more amendments, and we'll make refinements to what the committee has done.…”