David Obey: “I want to express my affection for the gentleman from New Mexico and my great respect for the gentlewoman from Ohio, and…”

“I want to express my affection for the gentleman from New Mexico and my great respect for the gentlewoman from Ohio, and I regret that I have to oppose their bill, but I want to explain why I am doing that. Mr. Speaker, I think there are four very good reasons to vote ``no'' on this bill. First of all, this bill blocks the ability of Secretary of Agriculture Glickman to propose even the smallest reform of the ancient, outmoded and disgracefully discriminatory milk marketing order system. I do not think it ought to do that, and that is one reason I am voting against it. Secondly, this bill is a very expensive admission that the Freedom to Farm bill is a spectacular failure and it has in fact become the freedom-to-fail-at-farming bill. Last year, the farm bill provided some $36 billion in transition payments to farmers who are moving their way into the wonderful new world of no safety net. Despite that fact, this bill now recognizes the need to add billions more, because the bottom has dropped out of the market. That is a confession of failure.”