Political Quotes

“this farm bill is the product of months of hard work by the Committee on Agriculture colleagues, and it deserves our support, and I rise in strong support of the rule. I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Combest) and the committee for coming to us with a bill that will help keep our family farmers operating across the country and will keep our supermarkets filled with fresh products at the best price. In northeastern and central Pennsylvania, I have seen dairy farms disappear all my life. Farmers have had difficulty surviving the price fluctuations that can cripple their family income. I have made a priority to do something to help the small dairy farms in my region. The farms support not only the farmers that live on them, but they support the communities and the schools and the churches and the very rural infrastructure that has made our country great. This bill, for the first time, gives us a counter-cyclical dairy payment which will be good for all producers. It is a national program which will provide a much-needed safety net for our farmers across America by providing direct payments in times of low prices. It is not a regional program. It is nationwide, and it will help all farmers. It will be immensely important to Pennsylvania's 10,000 dairy farmers. This bill is good for consumers. It is good for producers. It is good for the rural areas of our country, and it is good for the environment. It keeps people on the land.”