Political Quotes

“Madam Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment. This is clearly an attempt to legislate policy through an appropriation bill, contrary to the intent of regular order, and this is not the way that we should do business. Arbitrarily changing eligibility requirements for farm programs outside of the farm bill is irresponsible. It seriously undermines farmers' ability to make long-term plans and investments, and it adds a dangerous element of uncertainty to the market. The result would be a reluctance to make investments in equipment and practices that increase productivity. The process of developing the 2012 farm bill would begin in the Agriculture Committee next week. Our first step will be a comprehensive audit of current farm programs to determine which are working, which are not, and how to best insure that America's farmers and ranchers remain competitive and productive into the 21st century. Our farm program audits are just the beginning of what will be a very transparent, inclusive, thorough process of developing the 2012 farm bill. During that process, we will be careful to consider how best to stabilize, how to provide stability and certainty to farmers during lean years. Without appropriate risk management tools in place, a few bad seasons could put farming operations out of business permanently. Proponents of this amendment makes it sound like the Agriculture Committee has done nothing on this issue. That couldn't be farther from the truth.…”