Political Quotes

“today I wish to discuss amendment No. 945, which was accepted by the Senate yesterday via unanimous consent. This is an important amendment, and I would like to thank the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Stabenow, and the ranking member, Senator Cochran, for their willingness to work with me to see that this amendment was accepted. My amendment will help farmers in Alabama and many other States benefit from Federal agricultural irrigation programs. Expanding irrigation can help protect against drought and can dramatically increase agricultural production, which is why I supported the creation of the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program, AWEP, several years ago. AWEP, which receives approximately $60 million annually, is a ``voluntary conservation initiative that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to implement agricultural water enhancement activities on agricultural land to conserve surface and ground water and improve water quality,'' according to the USDA. AWEP assists farmers with the use of upland water storage ponds, irrigation system improvements, water quality improvement, and other similar efforts. It is a good program. According to ALFA--the association representing Alabama's farmers: Since 2009, the AWEP Initiative has made available over $3.5 million to benefit the local economy.…”