Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, this is the second-to-the-last day that we'll be here and be in session before we head home to our districts, and we still do not have a farm bill that gives certainty to our producers and our ranchers across the country. In a little over a week, the 2008 farm bill is going to expire. While many of these programs will continue into the future for months ahead, we have an opportunity to actually save money and give other producers certainty as they begin planning for the coming years. Last week, I sat down and I visited with Mike and Lori. They're producers from near the town of Huron, South Dakota. They raise corn, soybeans, and beef cattle. And this year was particularly difficult for them in light of the drought situation that producers in South Dakota were facing. {time} 1010 Thankfully, they had programs such as crop insurance that helped them manage their risk in such a difficult year. They wrote me a letter on the importance of the farm bill, and I want to read a portion of that letter to you: We are experiencing a severe drought in our area this year. We put up half the hay that we normally do. Dugouts are starting to dry up, and crop yields will be down significantly. Crop insurance will be extremely important to offset lost crop production and lost revenue due to poor crop conditions.…”