Political Quotes

“I join him in opposition to this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I understand the gentleman from Illinois' concerns, but with regard to the conservation programs, we have a finite amount of money. The commodity programs work under a baseline that assumes market conditions. The money rises and falls, and every farmer who meets those conditions can qualify for them. But with the conservation programs, there is a finite amount of money. Without the payment limitations, many farmers will not receive any help whatsoever in complying with different environmental regulations unless we have these payment limitations, which allows the payment to be spread across a wider area. This is a new reform-minded payment limitation. While some may think it's too stringent, payment limitations need to be applied uniformly across both title I and title II. Easement programs such as the wetlands reserve are exempted from this so we can protect some of the most environmentally sensitive land through easements. But the committee must be consistent in our views of all payments to producers, not just commodity payments. I join the gentleman in reluctantly opposing the gentleman from Illinois' amendment.”