Political Quotes

“I am deeply concerned about this issue, as are many of my colleagues. I strongly support this resolution by Messrs. Pitts, Davis, Goodlatte, and others for a whole host of reasons, but let's be very clear about a few things here. This country consumes more sugar than it produces. We must import sugar, whether we like it or not. We also have to deal with some other very basic facts. I listened with intensity to the gentleman from Minnesota, a good friend, who talked about American Crystal losing money. Well, the answer is not to bail them out with our tax dollars. We have seen enough of that around here. It is time to stop those types of unnecessary bailouts. We also heard my good friend from Texas, who, I was relieved today, did not complain about sugar companies making money or confectioners making money, as if profits are something that is evil. We want these companies to make money. We have had 4 years of high sugar prices, and that simply incentivizes more Mexican imports. It provides more incentives for those imports. But let's look at the numbers. The current program is a remnant of the Depression era. It puts 600,000 American jobs in the food industry at risk. Between 1997 and 2011, nearly 127,000 jobs were lost in segments of the food and beverage industries that use sugar in their operations. And, yes, Hershey is located in my district. The current sugar program hits American consumers and businesses with $3.5 billion of extra costs every year.…”