Derrick Van Orden: “My favorite part of this building is not the rotunda or Statuary Hall or even this Chamber. It is a simple quote painted…”

“My favorite part of this building is not the rotunda or Statuary Hall or even this Chamber. It is a simple quote painted above a door downstairs. It is, ``When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization.'' It was written by Daniel Webster in 1840. It is just simply time for some more truth- telling. It is disingenuous to say publicly that we are ``all of the above'' for American energy if we do not embrace biofuels. Simultaneously, it is disingenuous to set policy that de facto abolishes petrochemicals and yet admits that we will be dependent on them for at least another decade. Both positions have been made in this Chamber. I find this to be either duplicitous or foolish, and I choose to be neither. Our first President, who overlooks this body, was clear about public policy and agriculture. ``It will not be doubted . . . agriculture is of primary importance. In proportion as nations advance in population and other circumstances of maturity this truth becomes more apparent, and renders the cultivation of the soil more and more an object of public patronage.'' This was written 9 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and when Washington says ``more and more'' he acknowledges that agriculture has always been an object of public patronage and must always be. The initial writing of this bill did not acknowledge that.…”