Henry Bonilla: “Well, let me again summarize it, and I do not want to put words in the gentleman's mouth, but clearly the gentleman does…”

“Well, let me again summarize it, and I do not want to put words in the gentleman's mouth, but clearly the gentleman does not oppose a program for example in his State that is a big line item in this bill, but is yet trying to remove this program from this bill. Let me point out some statistics, and perhaps the gentleman can identify with some hardships that exist currently for wool and mohair producers. Since 1993, 16,000 family farms and ranches have left the sheep industry. The U.S. breeding herd has dropped by over 20 percent. Lamb imports have increased over 50 percent, and it is currently 20 percent of the domestic market. U.S. wool production has dropped to record lows, and imports have increased by 11 percent. The Nation's largest wool textile company filed for bankruptcy. Wool prices in 2000 were the lowest in 30 years. We in Congress do the best we possibly can for whatever part of the agriculture industry that exists around the country that is suffering hardship. There is nothing more American and traditional in this country than to try to preserve family farms and ranches; and there are many, many programs in this bill that do just that, including the one I pointed out that was in the gentleman's home State as well, which he supports. All we are saying is whether we are talking about apples, corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, soybeans or whatever, all of these are part of the American fabric.”