Political Quotes

“5 years ago, when we passed the Freedom to Farm Act, we were promised that it would clean up the subsidy programs that really dated back to the era of the Depression. It didn't. In fact, in many ways it made matters worse. I don't think we can wait another 5 years before we have fundamental reform. The fact is that back in the 1930s, 25 percent of our population lived on farms. Today it's less than 2 percent. Today, corn, cotton, wheat, rice and soybeans count for 90 percent of our government commodity payments, and yet it leaves fruits and vegetables, which represent two-thirds of farm sales, ineligible for support. The largest farms that comprise only 3 percent of the total farms get the vast majority of crop subsidies today. It just seems to me that it's time for fundamental reform that more fairly distributes the benefits of this program to all of America's deserving farms and families. That's why I support the Kind amendment.”