Political Quotes

“I have just had a number of farmers leave my office this morning, and they are not real sure they are going to be farming this year. So I rise today because tobacco farmers, growers and allotment holders desperately need a tobacco buyout, and they expect Congress to pass one before leaving in October. Without a buyout, approximately half of North Carolina's tobacco growers could go out of business this year. A buyout means a difference between bankruptcy and solvency, between being forced out of business and retiring with dignity, and between surrendering everything to creditors or having a legacy to leave to the next generation. A buyout would pump almost $4 billion into rural North Carolina at a time when they are really hurting. This infusion of capital would launch our agriculture sector into a new era of growth and development and provide greater stability to those who wish to continue to farm. Because the buyout is so critical to North Carolina's farm families and to the continued strength of North Carolina's agriculture sector, it is time for Congress to make the tough decisions necessary to ensure the buyout's success. Now, in the past several months, it has become increasingly clear that the ultimate success of a tobacco buyout is directly tied to the inclusion of FDA regulation. Madam Speaker, tobacco growers do not want us to have a prolonged fight over FDA. That is what they have told me over and over again.”