Political Quotes

“On behalf of my North Carolina farm families, I rise today to support H.R. 4520. Since 1997, tobacco quota has been cut by more than 50 percent in tobacco-growing regions. Consequently, farm families have seen their income cut by more than half. Widows and widowers, who use quota rents as their 401(k)s, have likewise seen their income fall. I ask Members, could they survive if their salary had been permanently cut by 50 percent or more? I think we know the answer to that: It would be very difficult. The time for action is running out. We need to jump-start the process of reforming the current program, and we need to do it now. H.R. 4520 accomplishes this by including provisions for a tobacco buyout, and this is not a buyout for the companies, it is for the small farmers and the allotment holders across the tobacco-growing regions. They have finally decided it is time for a change. They have had a hard time getting there, but the consequences they see is if they do not this year, they could face as much as a 30 percent cut this fall because of foreign tobacco flooding into America. This really is about helping people who work every day in the fields of this country making a living.”