On the recordJune 15, 2011
Once again we have come to a point where I need to defend the work of the Ag Committee, the authorizing committee, the committee that knows the most about this process. The $125,000 limit is picked out of whole cloth. It is made up. It is arbitrary. It is capricious. It has no clue what it might have as an impact on the farmers and ranchers in the district and parts that I represent. It is a drive-by shooting of farm policy that, frankly, makes no sense whatsoever if you are really going to seriously protect the production of agriculture in this country. On the one hand, we hear our colleagues on the other side rant about imported foods, and they want to then turn around and make sure that the American farmer and producer does not have the safety net that we promised them in 2008. Now, I understand my colleagues don't like that safety net. They had ample opportunity when they were in the majority in 2008 to effect a farm bill when it came to this floor. If they didn't like the process, they needed to take that up with Speaker Pelosi and them. The process going forward that I anticipate happening next year is that we will begin, as the chairman has said, to audit these farm bill programs over the next several months. We will then craft, with limited resources, a new farm bill that will be introduced in the committee, debated through subcommittees and at the full committee, and then we will bring it to the floor.…
