Political Quotes

“last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee once again reported to the full Senate a bipartisan farm bill, and I am pleased the Senate has turned to its consideration this week. I compliment the distinguished chair, Senator Stabenow, who has done Herculean duties. The bill before us represents nearly 2 years of hard work to satisfy the widely varied agricultural interests of this country, while supporting food assistance programs for those in need. The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act will save $23 billion over 10 years, which is remarkable given the fiscal restraints we face, and was overwhelmingly supported by the members of the agriculture committee by a vote of 15-5. Unfortunately, due to the House's inaction on the Senate-passed bill last year, many farm bill programs expired, while others were temporarily extended at the end of the year, making it all the more imperative that we work together now to ensure we move ahead with a bill in the next few months. I was glad that in December we were able to delay and prevent the ``dairy cliff'' from roiling markets worldwide and inflating dairy prices, which would have wreaked havoc in the marketplace and on our farms. But the short-term extension of the Farm Bill is no rational way to legislate, and the last-minute extension left dozens of critical agriculture programs stranded without funding. We must not repeat that process.…”