Political Quotes

“the bill expands a great program in Vermont called the Farms for the Future. Vermont's dairy farms are part of what makes Vermont so special. That is why I want to help Vermont farm families keep their land in agriculture through the Farms for the Future Program. I included this program in the 1990 farm bill, and since then, Vermont has purchased the development rights for nearly 100 farms throughout the State. Let me put that another way--nearly 100 Vermont farmers received cash payments under this program. This kept their land in farming. I am pleased that this bill contains $35 million more for farmland protection programs throughout the Nation. While this bill has many accomplishments, I wish we could have done even more in environmental areas. For example, the Wetlands Reserve Program places a lower cap on enrollments than the bill passed by the Senate. Retaining the Senate's cap would have provided further environmental insurance to future generations. The committee I sit on is called the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee for a reason. We have a long bipartisan history of making sure every child in our Nation--whether they are rich or poor--has enough to eat. While agriculture programs now extend for 7 more years, one of our most important child nutrition programs, food stamps, will expire 2 years from now. Fourteen million children benefit from the Food Stamp Program.”