Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, it is a great personal privilege and pleasure for me to come down here on behalf of 14,000 farmers and ranchers in my district and 75,000 farmers and ranchers in the State of Oklahoma, and goodness knows how many tens of thousands of people beyond that in various phases of agriculture and ag industry, and thank my good friend, Chairman Lucas, for what he has accomplished. I think it is easy to be the critic; but I think all of us on this House floor know how long and how arduous this struggle has been to bring all the competing interests together, to bring both sides of the aisle together, to bring both Chambers together, and to bring the administration together in support of this legislation. It is easy to see why you would support it if you actually step back and take a look at what it does. First, it does save $23 billion. Frankly, those cuts largely don't come out of the safety net programs, where actually there is simply relatively modest, but important reforms. They actually come out of the production end of this business. Changes need to be made there, but we ought to recognize those are tough changes in and of themselves. Second, it preserves the capability of this country to continue to produce more food and fiber than anybody else in the world--not just for our people, but for all over the world--and to deliver that at a cheaper price than anybody else in the world.…”