Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Just as he said, this is an effort just to modernize the list of eligible products under the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act. It is just about making sure that those folks in rural coastal areas have the same opportunities as those farmers on land. In those coastal areas, shellfish, molluscan shellfish, are extraordinarily important as a part of the economy. Modern practices take the watermen from wild harvest now to farming shellfish products, just like on-land farmers do. What this does is it makes sure that those coastal economies have the same access to resources under this program as those farmers on land do. It really is just the situation of making sure that we have parity there. This doesn't add a new checkoff program. It doesn't add new taxes. It purely puts in place access to those dollars competitively, just like those farmers that farm other crops on land. Again, this is extraordinarily important to coastal communities in those areas where those watermen are now converting to being farmers on the water. So it really is, again, about making sure that we are fair in treating those farmers on the water the same as we do the farmers on the land.”