Larry Combest: “I oppose this amendment, not on the substance of the amendment nearly as much as I do on the effect of the amendment.…”

“I oppose this amendment, not on the substance of the amendment nearly as much as I do on the effect of the amendment. When I was fortunate enough to chair the Research Subcommittee of the House Committee on Agriculture, and I have made statements then and since that time, that I think probably research money is some of the best money we could spend. We increased in committee, in the bill that is before the House that this amendment would affect, an increase of $1.16 billion in funding for the initiative. Is it as much as any of us would want? I would say no. Is there as much in any part of this bill as anyone would want? I would say probably not. If there is, I have not found them yet. But my main objection to this, Mr. Chairman, is what I have said, and we are going to hear a lot, and that is the balance. It was the same reason I objected to the amendment of the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Boswell), is that this takes money from part of this very delicate balance that we have and it does shift it into another area.”