Robert Smith: “Mr. Chairman, my colleagues in the 104th Congress passed a contract with agriculture. Over 300 of them voted for it, and…”

“Mr. Chairman, my colleagues in the 104th Congress passed a contract with agriculture. Over 300 of them voted for it, and it was a contract which I am sure even the proponents of this bill will support, and that means that all subsidies and all support systems are gone in 7 years, now 6 years. It was a commitment made by Congress with farmers. It allowed farmers to free up their planning, but it also said it is the end in 7 years. Now, if Members pass this amendment, they break the contract with farmers. They not only break it with sugar, they break it for the rest of the farmers. Why not wheat? Why not soybeans? Why are we not talking about these as well? How about dairy? We made a contract with the farmers. They depend upon it. They have borrowed money on the basis of 7 years. The CoBank, the largest agriculture bank in the country, said if we pass this amendment it jeopardizes $1 billion worth of loans to farmers. Please, I ask the Members not to jeopardize the farm bill they passed.”