"The farm bill was quite an achievement; it contains a good deal of fine public policy that will be welcomed by our constituents."
"This ill-conceived law has created economic disruption in the livestock industry and set the stage for a potential $2 billion in retaliation as a result of a WTO dispute with two of our most important..."
"This hearing of the Committee on Agriculture to review the state of the rural economy will come to order."
"We need to get a lot more yield out of our forests."
"I worry that the Commission has missed the mark with much of its proposal."
"I just would note that I wrote a letter to the CFTC last week with the leaders of both House and Senate Agriculture Committees asking the Commission to not ignore the concerns of the small ag players ..."
"We certainly recognize that the failures of MF Global and Peregrine Financial Group inflicted terrible losses on futures customers."
"We ask that you weigh the benefits of these regulations against both the costs to America's farmers and ranchers."
"The goal of increasing futures customer protections should be to strengthen the markets without harming the ability of American farmers."
"[I]t is important for the Commission to finalize the swap dealer definition in a manner that is not overly broad, and that will not impose significant new regulations on entities that Congress did not..."
"I absolutely agree and I suggest that whatever we have to do to preserve the check-and-balance system that Congress envisioned when it created the five-member Commission is absolutely necessary."
"opening statement"