Political Quotes

“I rise to express my surprise and dismay about what occurred in the conference committee on the agriculture appropriations bill. During debate on this bill in July, Mr. President, the Senate accepted an amendment I offered to waive the statute of limitations for discrimination complaints filed by many small and minority farmers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This amendment addresses an urgent and shameful problem, Mr. President, and we worked with farmers, the White House, the USDA, the Department of Justice, and the Congressional Black Caucus to develop language that would protect the legal rights of farmers' and be implementable by USDA. Mr. President, similar language was included in the House bill, but it was drafted more quickly and with less consensus. It was more narrowly defined and had less aggressive time limits for USDA to resolve discrimination complaints. And it cost $5 million less. And even though Representative Maxine Waters, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus lobbied the conferees in support of the Senate version of this amendment, Mr. President, the Senate lost on almost all counts.”