Patrick Leahy: “the Senator who helped put together that farm bill knows the farm bill itself took away the section 11 caps. My…”

“the Senator who helped put together that farm bill knows the farm bill itself took away the section 11 caps. My amendment in no way takes money from CRP or anything else. It simply builds a firewall around EQIP, FRPP, GRP and WHIP, which is what we all agreed to at the time when the chairmen of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees and others were trying to make sure they had votes to pass the farm bill. These programs were essential to get the support from the East where most of the tax dollars come to pay for this farm bill. This amendment does not take from CRP. We are simply telling USDA to take it from the CCC. It tells the USDA to go back to the farm bill, which spoke of taking this money from the CCC. It just builds a firewall. That is all; nothing more, nothing less. The reason I care this much about it is that it was pointed out during the farm bill debate that the bulk of the money was going to the Midwest, yet the tax dollars were coming from much more populous States, mostly through the Northeast, to pay for it. Almost all the money was going to the Midwest and other farm areas, but this is the one area that we got anything. EQIP is the only area where the Northeast States get some assistance--so it doesn't sound parochial, the backlog in my State is less than $8 million. The backlog in Iowa is about $29 million. We just want to build the firewall. That is all.”