Political Quotes

“As you know, every 5 years Congress undertakes a rewrite of farm legislation. Some years this process is relatively painless, some years it is more difficult. Farm programs are bipartisan efforts, with both sides working to achieve the best result possible for the nations farmers. This year has proven to be the most contentious, hard fought farm bill in memory. I am fortunate, through seniority, to have become a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee--the first Senator from Virginia, I might add, in nearly 30 years. For close to 1 year the Agriculture Committee has been working diligently to craft a new farm bill for our country. On September 30 of this past year, the old farm bill expired. Under the necessary budget changes and spending priorities that we set forth, a large portion of the farm bill was part of the Balanced Budget Act that Congress passed and sent to the President. The President, unfortunately for America, vetoed it. This veto created a critical problem for U.S. agriculture. The problem is that commodity support programs for the next 7 years were wiped out with the President's veto of the Balanced Budget Act.”