Political Quotes

“we spent a lot of months of very, very hard work to craft this farm bill. Today, we are completing the final legislative step in the farm bill process. I am glad that Secretary Glickman has said that he will recommend that the bill be signed. The Secretary is one of the most knowledgeable Secretaries of Agriculture with which I have ever worked. He has been a Member of the Congress. He has worked on many farm bills. He knows, as I do, that nobody ever gets everything they want in a farm bill. You have to bring in a number of competing interests and ultimately make a judgment of whether the bill should be signed or not. I believe it should be signed. I concur with his judgment. I am also pleased that the President said he would sign the farm bill. In my discussions with the White House and with the Secretary, I have told them this is a good bipartisan bill that proves we can work together. We were in a situation, Mr. President, where we were not going to be able to pass a Democratic or a Republican farm bill. However, if we worked as we have in the past in a bipartisan fashion, we could pass a very good farm bill. There are many who had a hand in this legislation. First and foremost of those is the chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, the senior Senator from Indiana, Senator Lugar. Had it not been for his energy, foresight and perseverance, we would not be on the floor today with a completed conference report.”